Can't Help Falling In Love With You
by roothlace
Summary: Guinevere knew that her life should be perfect she was getting married to the man she loved, and it would be if only her parents and that annoying journalist would not bring it crashing down
1. Chapter 1

_Merlin_ and _That Old Feeling_ don't belong to me.

 **Can't Stop Falling In Love With You**

Guinevere Smith hung up the phone and sat back in her chair. Lance, her fiancé, soon to be husband, had been abrupt. He'd never spoken like that to her before but she imagined that he was stressed about the upcoming elections.

Lancelot Bennington-Jones Junior was running for Senate. His grandfather had been a senator and his father was a senator. Lance was expected to follow in the footsteps of his father and he was on track - all that was missing was marriage to the right kind of girl.

When Guinevere had met Lance at the Camelot Club one evening six months ago she had been more than flattered by his interest in her. He was polite and courteous and handsome and…normal. She couldn't really believe that he was interested in someone with a background like hers. Pretty soon they were dating and then he'd proposed. He had a schedule, he told her, he had to been married at least six months before the elections, he would need a wife to take along to convince the voters; "imagine how nice the pictures will look," he'd said on more than one occasion.

Guinevere Smith came from a family of actors, her father Tom was a stage actor and had been King Lear at the Royal Camelot Theatre for so long and had done the part so well that it was almost impossible to think of any other actor playing Lear. Felicity Devine-Smith, Guinevere's mother was an actress but her stage was the silver screen. Elyan, her brother was also in the family business and he had recently landed a role as a young detective in an upcoming TV series.

Guinevere was the normal, non-artistic one and her parents had quite despaired of her. She was a teacher a local secondary school and Lance had told her on many occasions that if nothing else her job would help him land the job; although he'd told her that once he was in the Senate she would have to give up her job. In fact, he had once hinted that she could just denounce her family then everything would be peachy between them.

That was what their conversation had been about today. He'd called to tell her to tell her parents not to attend the wedding. As if. Guinevere had never been so angry with him and at that moment she had thought of calling it off; but she couldn't, she really loved Lance and apart from his obsession with his career he was the perfect boyfriend and fiancé. Mostly though, she couldn't break it off because she didn't want to be as flaky as her parents; who did things at a moment's notice.

Tom and Felicity had split up two months ago. It had made the news of course. Pictures of her parents at every newsstand and on very TV screen, their 'friends' selling their story to the tabloids and then to make matters worse, Arthur Pendragon, that sneaky photojournalist who always seemed to know where Felicity was, was in her face. Taking pictures of Gwen, asking her for quotes. Honestly, she'd never met a more annoying man in her life.

Tom met a new woman, a young aspiring actress, Sophia Day, and in a few weeks, two to be exact, they were engaged, seemingly not to be outdone, Felicity had announced her engagement a few days later to a younger man, Gwaine Lee; the newspapers and TV had had a field day and once again, to Gwen's dismay her parents were news again which is why Lance had been calling her, he didn't need such people in his life now, everything he did was being carefully scrutinized and his wife-to-be was to be above reproach.

And to top it off the wedding was now less than a week away. Gwen was troubled to say the least, she couldn't talk to her parents' they were both busy with their work and new loves and Elyan was away filming in Istanbul. She stood up and went in search of Morgana, her flat mate.

Morgana had never liked Lance and she had told her friend a number of times; but she was supportive of her and if Gwen was determined to marry the man, idiot though he was, then Morgana would be there for her.

"He said what?" Morgana asked. "Gwen, surely this is a sign that the marriage can't take place."

"I can't not marry Lance," Gwen replied.

"You love him," Morgana finished for her. She'd heard that story before. Many times.

Gwen nodded. She did love Lance and for once in her life she was beginning to think that maybe he was right about her family. Why did her parents love being in the news so much? Why couldn't they be like other parents?

"Okay," Morgana knew when to back down. "But surely you're not going to ask them not to attend your wedding."

"Of course not," Gwen replied, "and I couldn't even if I tried, I've trying to get in touch with them since the news of their new relationships broke but I've failed."

"Good," Morgana said. "What say we go out for a walk?"

000

Gwen wasn't surprised when both her parents showed up at the country club where the wedding was to take place on her wedding day. She was in her room with Morgana getting ready when she heard a knock and opened the door to reveal Felicity in a golden off-the-shoulder dress.

"I know, I know, I'm late," Felicity said, hugging her daughter, "but you knew that I wouldn't miss this for the world. My daughter getting married although I can't stand Lance."

"I'm glad you're here," Gwen told her.

"Of course you are," Felicity replied, "you'll never guess who I run into on my way here."

As if on cue, the door opened to reveal her father.

"My darling girl," Tom told her. He hugged her close. "You look great, doesn't she Lis?"

Felicity smiled at her daughter, "the dress fits perfectly; I told you it would."

Gwen was wearing her mother's wedding dress. Lance's mother hadn't liked it, it was old and plain, she'd said, trying to convince Gwen to wear a designer gown but Gwen had refused; she'd always loved her mother's dress. She'd loved it from the first time she'd seen their wedding pictures.

Elyan had flown in just for that day and he'd been on standby to give her away if the parents didn't show. Tom and Felicity both insisted on walking Gwen down the aisle and as they walked down towards the minister and vicar she was dismayed to spy Arthur Pendragon among the paparazzi taking pictures, she had told Lance that she didn't want him among the approved journalists and he'd agreed, obviously Arthur Pendragon had somehow managed to get himself on the list. She shook her head slightly; she would not let him spoil her wedding day.

Pretty soon, Gwen and Lance were walking arm in arm to the gardens for the reception. It was a beautiful day, bright and sunny, and the gardens were breathtaking. She smiled at the people she recognised and then noticed that her parents and their receptive new beaus had been seated together at a table for four.

"Do you think that's good idea?" she asked Lance.

"They'll behave," he assured her. "And you have to admit they've been doing a pretty good job of it so far."

Gwen nodded. Her parents had been surprisingly subdued; she hoped they would keep it up for the rest of the ceremony. It was weird; she thought to herself, she was worried about her parents' behaviour instead of enjoying her wedding. Still she couldn't help asking, "I thought I saw Arthur Pendragon taking pictures?"

"Oh yes," Lance replied, "I wanted to ensure that our wedding got the coverage it deserved."

"But I asked you to make sure that he wasn't here, today of all days," Gwen reminded him. "You know what he did to my mother." Felicity had been through a phase a few years ago and she had started taking drugs; it bad been a very bad time and Arthur had somehow managed to get photos and videos of her at her worst and they'd been published and even gone viral on the internet. Felicity had been livid and soon after she had put her life in order but she hated Arthur Pendragon for what he'd done to her. Obviously Arthur didn't know that or he didn't care because from that time on you could count on Arthur Pendragon showing up wherever Felicity Devine-Smith was. It was weird but somehow he could always found her.

"He took some pictures of her," Lance shrugged, "it's his job and you must admit it did help your mother."

"Lance!" Gwen couldn't believe what she was hearing.

He turned to her and lifted his hands to her face. "I didn't tell you earlier because I knew it would upset you but his pictures always end up in the best magazines and he's a great photographer." He kissed her softly, "forgive me?"

Gwen stared at him and then nodded slowly. She could understand why he'd done it although she didn't like it and her mother seemed okay. "Yes, of course I do."

"Good," he took her hand, "let's enjoy our reception."

The reception went well until they asked the father of the bride to give his speech. Tom had just begun to tell a story about a teenaged Gwen when Felicity stood up, and walked over and picked up another mic and begun to speak.

"I think I should tell the story," Felicity said, "seeing as I was the one who was actually at home at that time while you were so busy playing Lear."

"Lis, please," Tom begged her, "can we do this another time?"

"When?" Felicity asked him, "Do you think our daughter is going to have another wedding?"

Tom didn't answer, he stood staring at Felicity.

"Do you think she's going to be like you?" Felicity asked, "that she'll leave Lance for a man half her age, for a child young enough to be her son?"

"You're one to talk," Tom replied, "How old is that boy toy of yours?"

"This isn't about Gwaine and you know it," Felicity replied.

Elyan stood up, he had to stop their parents from ruining Gwen's wedding; the journalists had been filming since Tom and Felicity had begun talking and he was sure it would make the news very soon. He could see Gwen and the rest of the guests staring at them in shock. As if in slow motion he saw Gwen stand up slowly and begin to walk towards their parents; Tom and Felicity looked from Gwen to Elyan, they were the only other people standing in the whole party and then they looked at each other.

"Oh Lis," Tom said, "what have we done?"

"Tommy," Felicity replied, "my dear, Tommy."

They looked at their children again; Gwen and Elyan were still making their way towards them, and they looked at each other and to everyone's surprise Tom and Felicity began to kiss. Gwen and Elyan stopped walking and stared at their parents; in fact it seemed as if time had stopped, the only people who weren't shocked were the journalists and the videographers.

Tom and Felicity were kissing each other furiously and then they stopped and looked around and then looked at each other. 'Sorry,' they mouthed at their children and then they held hands and ran out of the gardens.

000

"I can't believe they did that to me," Lance said. They were standing in the gardens, Tom and Felicity's departure had somehow signaled the end of the celebrations and most guests had left soon afterwards leaving only Lance's parents who didn't want to talk to her, in fact they were thinking of ways of having the marriage annulled, and Sophia and Gwaine who were shocked at what had happened. Elyan had also left, Morgana with him - he had told Gwen that he was going to find their parents. Morgana would help him while Gwen went on her honeymoon.

"Did that to you?" Gwen asked him, "they are my parents and this was our wedding. They didn't do that to you, they did it to us."

"Do you think it will hurt my chances?" he asked her.

"Chances?" What was he talking about?

"At becoming a senator," Lance told her.

"You know what?" Gwen replied, "I couldn't care less."

"You don't mean that," Lance told her, "you're just tired, not thinking right."

Gwen took a deep breath and then nodded. "You're right. We have to leave."

"You can't leave," Lance told her, "it's our wedding day."

She shook her head. "I have to find my parents."

"They're your parents," he told her, "they're old enough to look after themselves. Besides Elyan and Morgana are already out there looking for them."

"So you're not coming with me?"

"Do you know how much damage your parents have already caused me, my parents and my chances of becoming a senator?"

Gwen run off to the suite they'd had booked and picked up her handbag, she made sure her car keys were in it and run out of the room to her car. It was totally blocked by Lance's parents' cars and she couldn't face them yet so she run to the reception, they would get her a taxi.

"You need a ride somewhere?"

Gwen turned and saw Arthur Pendragon. He was driving a small white convertible Benz.

She considered it for just a second and went over to the passenger side and got in.

"Let's go."

000

 **Happy 4th of July**


	2. Chapter 2

**Thanks for reading and reviewing**

000

Arthur Pendragon could clearly remember the first time he'd spoken to Felicity Devine-Smith. He'd been following her around for a few weeks trying to get a picture; he figured that a picture of her would be the thing to get him noticed. He had been barely twenty and on that day he'd had another huge argument with his father. Uther couldn't understand why Arthur wanted to be photographer instead of becoming a lawyer like all the Pendragon males had been before him.

"You want to waste your time following celebrities around? Ruining people's lives?" Uther had shouted at him.

"You don't want me to be a writer," Arthur reminded him, "and besides I like people and I won't use my photographs to ruin people's lives."

Uther had shaken his head at his son. "What do you think the paparazzi do?"

"I'm not going to be like them," Arthur had argued. And he promised himself that he wouldn't.

He was sitting on a bench behind some bushes watching Felicity and her daughter, Guinevere, eat lunch at one of those fancy roadside cafes. He'd already taken a couple of shots, of Guinevere not Felicity he was ashamed to admit, she was beautiful with caramel skin like her mother's and curly brown hair which was held in a braid with a few tendrils falling in her cheeks and had the most amazing brown eyes. He was wondering what he was doing hiding in bushes when he looked up and saw Felicity standing in front of him.

"I… sorry, I…" he stammered.

Felicity had given a look could freeze a man in his boots and said, "you're Uther's little boy, Arthur, aren't you?"

Arthur just nodded dumbly. He couldn't believe Felicity Devine-Smith knew who he was.

"I'm glad to see he didn't scare you into joining the law firm," she smiled, "it's good to know that you can stand up for what you believe in."

"Thank you," Arthur told her.

"I've seen you following me around," Felicity told him, "and I thought it was time we were introduced, properly."

Arthur looked beyond her, but her daughter, Guinevere, was nowhere to be seen.

"You were following me, right?" Felicity asked him, "and not my daughter?"

"Yes, ma'am," he answered.

"You are not to print, publish, sell or whatever it is that you do," she smiled at him, "any pictures of my daughter, is that clear?"

Arthur nodded.

"If you promise to do that, dear boy, then I will personally send you my itinerary for the next two months, although I doubt you need it since you always manage to show up anyway,"

"Why?" Arthur was intrigued.

"Gwen is a sweet girl," Felicity replied, "and she doesn't need her picture showing up all over the place, it's bad enough that her parent's pictures are everywhere."

Arthur nodded, "but why give me your itinerary, why not threaten me or get a restraining order?"

"You want me to do that?"

"No, of course not." He definitely didn't want that. Why was he even bringing it up?

"I'm going to tell you where I'm going to be for the next two months because I figure you need help, so that you can show your father that you can do what you've decided to do, but mostly because I think you're cute."

"Okay," he seemed unsure.

"So, you have two months," Felicity told him, "if you can't make it by then, then maybe Uther's right."

"Thank you."

"Keep away from my daughter."

True to her word, Felicity sent him her itinerary and she had helped him make his career, pretty soon he was getting offers from serious magazines and his future as a photographer was more or less set. He never told anyone, well apart from his best friend Merlin, about his meeting with Felicity and what she had asked him to do.

A few years later, eight to be exact, Felicity had been going through a bad phase and Arthur had happened upon her and well, he'd ran the photos showing her at her worst. He'd known that what he was doing wasn't right, especially since Felicity had basically made him what he'd become, but Arthur had also been going through a rough patch of his own and he'd needed money desperately. Such pictures were guaranteed to sell and they did.

When Lance had approached him to be part of the photographers at his and Guinevere's wedding, Arthur's first reaction had been to refuse, he was sure that Guinevere wouldn't be happy to see him there. They had never met, officially, and obviously never spoken but he knew that she blamed him for those pictures of her mother. He'd only agreed to be at their wedding, although he couldn't understand why anyone let alone a sensible woman like Guinevere Smith would want to marry Lancelot Bennington-Jones Junior, when Felicity had called him and told him that if he ever wanted her to forgive him for those pictures then he'd best show up at her daughter's wedding. "It will be a hoot," Felicity had told him, "and you wouldn't want to miss that now, would you? Also you'll make some money; Lance will pay any amount you ask, although I know you're not interested in his money."

Which is how Arthur ended up in drive way asking Guinevere if she needed a ride. To say that he was surprised when she jumped into his car, wedding dress and all, was putting it mildly. He knew that at some point they'd have to talk about the pictures but he was glad that he was finally going to get to know Guinevere Smith.

000

Arthur was still debating whether to greet her and introduce himself, although she knew his name at the very least, or to just ask her where she was going when Guinevere turned to him, "I can't believe you had the nerve to show up at my wedding," she ranted, "haven't you caused my mother enough pain? I bet you can't wait to peddle those photos of yours."

"I was asked to come for your wedding," he replied, "by your fiancé."

"You could have said no," Guinevere told him, "it's not like you need this to survive."

"I had my reasons for showing up," he told her.

"Fine," Guinevere didn't want to hear his reasons, "just get me into town."

"I'm Arthur, by the way, Arthur Pendragon."

Guinevere turned to him, mortified that in her anger she'd forgotten basic etiquette, inspite of his bad manners she should have acted better, if only to show him the error of his ways. "Guinevere Smith."

"Smith?" he asked lazily, "you're not taking his name. Good idea, it would be a mouthful wouldn't it?"

Guinevere shook her head and admitted, "I forgot. Guinevere Bennington-Jones Junior."

"Like I said, a mouthful."

She shrugged. "It's my name now for better or worse."

"Can I ask you a question?"

She didn't want to answer any questions he had. She didn't trust him but he was getting her into town. She nodded.

"Are you really going to call yourself Mrs. Junior?"

Guinevere laughed out loud and rolled her eyes at him. "You see I married Mr. Junior so I guess I'll just have to call myself Mrs. Junior."

"Why?"

"Like I just said," Guinevere told him, "I married Mr. Junior so that makes me Mrs. Junior."

"I meant, why did you marry him?"

"Why did I marry Lance?" she eyed him suspiciously. "The usual reasons I guess."

"He knocked you up?" Arthur asked her. Although he was certain that she wasn't pregnant; Lance and Gwen had barely spent more than ten minutes together since they'd gotten engaged, that he was sure of, and he also knew that Mrs. Lance Bennington-Jones Senior would not have let her son marry Guinevere if she'd been pregnant.

"If you must know," Guinevere told him stiffly, "Lance and I were both content to wait for our wedding night. He was very clear about that." Why was she telling him these things?

"Interesting," Arthur said. Very interesting, he thought to himself. "I'll bet he was very clear about that."

"Anyway, by usual reasons," Guinevere told him, "I meant that I married Lance because I love him."

Arthur would have wanted to debate that point but he didn't want to hear how much Guinevere loved Lance. It set his teeth on edge just thinking about them being together. He could hear Merlin telling him that it wasn't any of his business and more importantly she was married to Lance.

Guinevere was glad when Arthur Pendragon stopped asking her questions. He wasn't what he'd expected, she'd tried to imagine what the sicko who'd sold her mother's pictures looked like but failed and then she'd come across a picture in a magazine and had to admit that with blond hair slightly longer than it should be, his blue eyes and lean body he wasn't bad looking at all. What was disturbing her now though was the fact that she'd told him things about hers and Lance's relationship that she'd never told anyone before. She would have to be more careful not to let anything else slip.

"I thought we would check at Lagerfield," Arthur broke the silence. Lagerfield was a luxury boutique hotel in town that Felicity loved. She had told Gwen a number of times that it her home away from home. Apparently Arthur knew her mother well enough to know that. She didn't want to know how he knew that.

"Fine," she agreed. "it's as good a place to start as any."

"Maybe we should first hit the shops," Arthur suggested.

"Why?" she needed to know if her parents were at the Lagerfield.

"You might want to change first," Arthur told her.

Gwen had forgotten about the wedding dress. "Right," she said, "we'll go and buy some clothes first."

A few minutes later they made their way to the front desk and asked for the Hoods which the name her parents usually registered under in the hotel. The receptionist told them that no, no one using that name was currently registered in the hotel.

Dejected Arthur and Guinevere went to the lobby and sat down. They needed to come up with another plan.

000

"We checked there as well but they hadn't checked in," Elyan told Gwen. She had called her brother as soon as they had sat down. "Honestly I don't know what to do now."

"Where are you?"

"Driving Morgana back to the club," Elyan replied, "are you still there or have you left yet?" Gwen and Lance were supposed to be leaving for the Bahamas in an hour's time.

"I'm at the Lagerfield," Gwen admitted.

"We must have passed each other on the road, Lance must be very unhappy that his plans have been interfered with."

"I left him at the club," Gwen said, "I asked him to come with me and he refused and I've just realised that I left my phone there as well. He must be very worried."

"Okay," Elyan replied, "so what should I tell him?"

"Tell him that I'm still looking for my parents," Gwen told her brother, "and that I'll call him when I can."

"Actually I've been meaning to ask," Elyan said, "whose number is this anyway?"

"A friend's," she stalled, she wasn't ready to explain about Arthur Pendragon now, especially to Elyan, "I'll be using it till further notice."

"I'll call when I see Lance." He knew that his sister was keeping something from him but that she would tell him when she was ready.

"Elyan, I hope you're still going back tonight as planned," Gwen told him.

"I was thinking of staying for a few days," he admitted. "Or until we got the parents back."

"No," Gwen said, "I'll take care of this."

"You're supposed to be on your honeymoon."

"Lance will understand," Gwen assured him, "and besides we have the rest of our lives to be together, the job won't wait for you."

Elyan didn't want to but he found himself agreeing to do as Gwen had asked him to.

000

"But where could they be?" Sophia was almost in tears and Lance sat down next to her and took her hands in his. "Gwen will find them and sort this whole this out."

Lance, Elyan, Morgana, Gwaine and Sophia were in the honeymoon suite of the club. Lance had just gotten off the phone with Gwen who had assured him that she would be back the next day whether she had found her parents or not.

Lance, Gwaine and Sophia had decided that they would stay together until their partners returned. Gwen had asked Morgana to stay with them to make sure that none of them talked to any press; Morgana, Gwaine and Sophia went to the reception to get rooms for the night and they agreed that they would regroup in the morning.

After assuring Lance once more that everything was going to be okay, Elyan left for the airport.

000

Tom and Felicity looked over the balustrade into the lobby.

"It doesn't seem like they're going anywhere," Felicity said. "You know how pigheaded Gwen is."

"This was your plan," Tom reminded, "and you always plan for all eventualities, so what do we do next?"

Felicity smiled mischievously and said, "follow me."

000

The receptionist walked over to Gwen and Arthur who were sitting in the lobby, Gwen had talked to Lance and had decided to go back to the club. The problem was that she had no money and she didn't want to owe Arthur more than she already did.

"Excuse me, Miss Smith?" the receptionist said.

"Yes," Gwen looked up at the young woman.

"I'm not supposed to do this," the woman was distressed, "but the Hoods are registered here."

Gwen stood up immediately and Arthur followed suite. "Which room?"

"I don't want to lose my job," the receptionist continued.

"We'll just be in and out," Arthur told her. "No one will know."

"Fine," the receptionist took a deep breath, "Rosewood suite."

They took the key card from her and hurried to the 10th floor. There were clothes strewn all over the room, dresses, shirts, trousers, Felicity's coat, Tom's Jacket, shoes and bags. "They must have been here," Gwen said, "and it looks like they haven't checked out yet."

They were still standing there looking when they heard the door lock behind them.

"Did you hear that?" Gwen asked.

Arthur was already at the door trying to get it to open but it didn't budge.

"I'll call reception," Gwen said but she couldn't find the room phone.

Arthur looked for his phone and it wasn't in his pocket anymore, neither was his wallet. Gwen found that she had somehow lost her bag as well.

They stared at each other in silence.

000


	3. Chapter 3

**Thanks for reading and reviewing.**

"I don't think this is a good idea," Tom told Felicity.

"You like to overthink things," Felicity replied, "this will work."

"Locking our daughter up in a hotel room on her wedding day with a man who isn't her husband cannot be a good idea."

"I beg to differ," Felicity insisted, "if nothing else, this will make her realise that she made a mistake marrying Lance."

"If you didn't want her to marry Lance," Tom asked, "why didn't you just tell her?"

"I tried," Felicity said, and she had tried, but Gwen had been determined to be normal, and she kept insisting that she loved Lance. Anyone with eyes in their head could see that they were so wrong for each other and that they would make each other miserable.

"What's wrong with Lance anyway?" Tom didn't really know him but if Gwen wanted to marry him then that was enough for him.

Felicity stared at her husband. She couldn't believe him, how could he not see that Lance was wrong for their daughter?

"And you think Arthur's better for her?" Tom continued. "I thought you hated him for those pictures he took of you."

"I couldn't hate Arthur even if I tried," Felicity told him, "He's Ygraine's son."

"Please, you don't have to remind me of the sorority sister bond and all," Tom begged. "But you acted as if you hated him, and then this."

"Sure, what he did wasn't right," Felicity shrugged, "but this is Gwen's life we're talking about. And I do know Arthur, he's hardworking, he's loyal and he cares about people he's not like Uther at all and his looks don't hurt."

"So, you like Arthur," Tom conceded, "that doesn't mean that Gwen will like him too."

"If he can make get out of her marriage to Lance that will be enough for now," Felicity said; "we can work on the other bit later."

"What do you mean 'we'? What other bit?"

She shook her head. "Did you remember to set the table on the balcony?"

He nodded. "I still don't see why you had to lock them in."

"Don't you?" her tone was heavy with sarcasm.

"Okay I do," Tom said, "but I still don't like the idea of locking up my baby with Arthur Pendragon."

"He won't do anything to her," Felicity tried to reassure him, "but maybe he should and then she'll come to her senses."

"I don't know why I let you talk me into these things," Tom said. "They rarely end well."

"Really?" Felicity was indignant. "Are you saying that you don't have fun with me?"

"Fun?" he asked. "I don't think I would exist without you."

"I know."

"You know what, let's forget Gwen for a while and go have some fun," he suggested.

"I thought you'd never ask."

000

"I'm hungry," Gwen said.

"So am I," Arthur told her.

Gwen sat up; she had been curled up on the bed. "Maybe we can try calling for help." They hadn't gone out to the balcony yet.

Arthur joined her and they went out the French windows together. They were on the 10th floor, too far for them to jump, even if they were willing to risk it, and too far to be heard by the people passing on the street.

"Who would want to lock us in a hotel room?" Gwen asked for the tenth time. They had been debating that question for a while.

"I don't know," Arthur replied, "but whoever they were I guess they didn't want us to sleep hungry." He pointed to a table in the corner that had a bottle of wine, two glasses, and a bowl of fruit and two plates of food.

Gwen shook her head when she saw the wine. "Mother, what are you doing?" she whispered to herself.

Arthur heard her and looked at her, "Mother? You think your mother did this?"

"That's my favourite wine," Gwen admitted, "And that looks like Chicken Kiev."

"Don't tell me it's your favourite dish?"

"I love it," she admitted, "although it's my father's favorite dish."

"But why would your parents lock us in this room?" Arthur wondered.

"Maybe they thought I came here with Lance," she suggested.

"No one would mistake me for Lance," Arthur told her, "and besides why would they lock you and Lance in a room?"

"It probably wasn't them, anyway," Gwen said, "my parents probably ordered this food for themselves but we came before they could eat it."

"That may be true," Arthur agreed, "but why lock us in their room?"

"You don't know that they did," Gwen said, "It could have been that receptionist or a deranged guest. But you know what, I'm going to eat." And she pulled out a chair and sat down, Arthur joined her and they began to eat.

000

Morgana switched off the TV and threw the remote on the bed. She was too keyed up to sleep. She decided to call the front desk.

"Is the swimming pool open?" she asked the receptionist.

"Yes," the receptionist replied, "we have someone on duty and if he's not there call him on 121."

Morgana hung up and changed into her swimsuit, put on a sundress and made her way to the indoor swimming pool. She didn't find anyone there but she was grateful for that, she didn't want to talk to anyone.

On her tenth lap, she looked up and saw Gwaine Lee looking at her.

"I didn't mean to startle you," he told her, "I couldn't sleep and decided to come for a swim."

"I'm done," Morgana told him, and she lifted herself out of the water.

"You don't have to leave on my account," Gwaine said. "The pool's big enough for both of us."

"I know it is," Morgana told him, "but I'm done."

Gwaine smiled at her and flicked his hair out of his face. "You don't like me much, do you?"

"I don't know you," Morgana replied, "so I have no feelings towards you whatsoever."

"You don't like me," he insisted, "because I'm with Felicity."

"I don't have any thoughts on that matter," Morgana told him.

"I think you do," Gwaine told her, "but it's not my fault that Felicity and Tom broke up."

"Why are telling me this?"

"What if I told you that it's because I don't like it when you look at me like that?"

"Like what?" she glared at him.

"Like I'm so sort of … I don't know," Gwaine smirked, "a bad boy, up to no good."

"Are you?"

"What? A bad boy?"

"No," Morgana told him, "up to no good?"

"No," Gwaine assured her, "Felicity and I are friends, nothing more."

"Why are you telling me this?" she repeated.

"She was angry at Tom," Gwaine said, "angry and hurt that he was announcing his engagement to a girl young enough to be his daughter, and this when they were not even properly divorced yet."

"So you pretended to be engaged to her?" Morgana was incredulous.

He shrugged, "I can't help if the reporter assumed that we were engaged, we certainly never said that we were."

"So you Felicity are friends, huh?"

"I'm a landscape designer," Gwaine explained. "She found me when I was just starting out and loaned me the money to get the business off the ground and even got me work with her friends."

"So, when you heard about Tom, you dropped everything and decided to play happy couples?"

"She's a minor partner in my business," Gwaine said, "and we were discussing business and like I said I can't help the conclusions that that reporter jumped to when she saw us together."

"You could have denied them," Morgana pointed out.

"Why?" Gwaine asked her. "It seemed easier to let everyone go on thinking that."

Morgana shook her head and stared at him. "You're unbelievable."

"Thank you," he smiled, "took you long enough to notice it, It's one of my more endearing qualities."

"Please," Morgana snorted.

"You know," he told her, "Felicity told me a bit about you."

"Really?" She couldn't believe it.

"Yes, really," Gwaine said, "you're Gwen's oldest friend, you're her roommate, and you're a software designer."

"So you know some things about me," she smiled thinly.

"Yes."

"It's been a long day," Morgana told him, "and I'm tired. Good night."

"Good night, Morgana," Gwaine smiled. He watched her walk out of the room and then dived into the pool. This was turning out to be a lot more fun than he'd thought it would be; he hoped Felicity and Tom had had a chance to sort things out between them.

000

"My father doesn't understand," Arthur said, "he never did."

"Parents always think they know what's best for their children," Gwen told him.

They had finished eating a while back and they back in the room. Arthur had graciously given up the whole bed to Gwen and was sleeping on the floor next to the bed.

"Your parents never forced you to be an actor," he told her.

"They would have if I'd let them," Gwen replied, "but truthfully they let me choose what I wanted to do. The only thing we've never really agreed about is Lance."

"They don't like Lance?" he pretended to be shocked.

"Mom thinks he's pretentious," Gwen admitted, "and that he's trying to change me into something I'm not."

"Is he?"

"Pretentious?" she asked him. "Of course not."

"Is he trying to change you into something you're not?" he asked her seriously.

"No," she shook her head, "Lance and I understand each other very well, and he knows and accepts me for who I am."

"And who are you exactly?"

"You know what?" she asked him, "I'm very tired. It's been a long day."

"I'm sorry," he said, "it's none of my business."

"It's fine."

"My father still doesn't understand why I never wanted to be a lawyer," Arthur said, "and he cut me off when I told him that I was dropping out of law school and doing something else. He threatened me and took my car and basically made me homeless, luckily my friend Merlin has a flat where he let to live rent-free. I made a deal with my father that if I was unable to get paid for my work as a photographer in six months then I would finish law school and join the firm but if I did he would let me live my life as I saw fit and also leave the trust fund that my grandfather left me alone."

"He wanted to take your money?"

"He's in control of it until I turn 35," Arthur said, "and also has the power to ensure that I never see a cent of the money if certain conditions are not met."

"You must be glad that you were able to succeed as a photographer," Gwen said.

"I had a lot of help," Arthur admitted, "but yes, I'm very glad."

"So, this lack of money; is that what made you sell my mother's pictures?"

"I told you that I live with my friend Merlin," Arthur explained. "Well, he's more like the brother I never had, we met at the university, and he's a biochem lecturer there now. Anyway, his mother Hunith is like a mother to me as well, she needed emergency surgery a few years back and so in order to get the money it required I uhm… sold your mother's pictures."

"Was the surgery successful, is she fine?"

Arthur smiled at Gwen. "She's great, actually."

"It's good to hear that the money was used for a good cause," she told him.

"Let me guess," he said, "you thought I sold them for drugs or something like that."

"No," Gwen denied immediately, "not drugs, an expensive house or car definitely."

"I don't have a house yet," he admitted, "not the house I want anyway, but I'm working on it."

"Surely, you've made enough to buy a house?"

"I have," he replied, "but I bought one for Hunith instead. I'm working on mine now."

"Hunith must be really important to you."

"She is," he nodded, "I told you, the mother I never had, she and a few other people really helped put my life on track. I would do anything for her."

"So it would seem."

"I'll introduce her to you some time," he said, "Merlin too, I'm sure you'd get on very well."

"I'd love to meet them."

They both pretended that they didn't understand the implications of what they'd just said. As Lance's wife, Gwen would never have time to hang out with Arthur and his family.

"Tell me about Merlin," Gwen asked him.

"Merlin," Arthur smiled widely, "he's like this kid in a man's body. He does the most idiotic things sometimes, I mean he's almost burnt down the flat more times than I can count but he's great."

"Now I really have to meet him."

"I doubt you'll have much time to do that," Arthur said, "as a Senator's wife you'll be very busy. Much too busy for people like us."

"Not too busy for the things I want to do," Gwen told him.

"Can I ask you something?"

"Is this about Lance, again?"

"Yes, sorry," Arthur told her, "but I can't believe you're married to him."

"Is there something you know about him that I don't?"

"No," he shook his head, "I don't know anything about him but I mean he obviously knew that you wouldn't want me at your wedding yet he insisted, didn't he?"

"How did you know that he insisted?"

"He told me," Arthur had stared at him in shock wondering why Lance had felt the need to share that piece of information.

Gwen took that in silence and then said, "You take very good pictures, don't you?" she shrugged, "and they are ran in every good magazine, aren't they?"

"Yes they are," he said, "but still, shouldn't he respect your wishes?"

"You also could have refused if you had such strong feelings about it."

"I couldn't refuse," Arthur told her.

"Mrs. Bennington-Jones Senior threatened you, didn't she? Said she'd destroy you if you refused or something to that effect?"

"Something like that," Arthur agreed, and then asked, "is that what you call her?"

"It's her name," Gwen told him, "and she asked me to call her that."

"You must really love Lance," Arthur said.

"I do. Good night, Arthur."

"Good night, Guinevere."

000

He opened his eyes slowly and looked around, the bedside clock read 10:42 a.m.; he had slept for longer than he usually did, and turned over in his bed. It had been a very good night; he hadn't had that much fun in months.

The woman lying next to him turned and faced him, smiling lazily. "That was quite fun, we should do it again."

He nodded languidly.

"Gwen doesn't have to know."

"I know," he agreed. What Gwen didn't know couldn't hurt her. "What about Tom?"

"There was nothing really going between Tom and I," Sophia assured him, "but you and I, Lancelot, we can have some great times together."

"Yes, we could, Sophia," Lance agreed, "we sure could."

000


	4. Chapter 4

**Thanks for reading, reviewing and following.**

000

Morgana rolled her eyes when she saw Gwaine make his way towards her on the terrace. The country club had a breakfast buffet every morning from 6 to 10; this morning however because of the Bennington-Jones wedding an exception had been made and breakfast was going to last until noon.

Morgana had made her way for breakfast about thirty minutes earlier – she'd overslept. She had hoped that she would find a message from Gwen but there had been none; she wished she'd asked for Arthur's number so that she could find out if her friend was okay.

"Good morning, Morgana," Gwaine smiled at her and pulled up a chair and joined her at her table.

"Good morning."

"I hoped I would run into you," he said.

"How nice that your wish was fulfilled," she told him.

"I know that you're happy to see me," Gwaine said, "although you won't admit it."

"Aren't you going to eat anything?" she asked. He was just sitting there staring at her.

"I never eat breakfast," he stated.

"So why are you here?"

"I told you," he replied, "I wanted to see you."

Morgana snorted and lifted her cup and took a sip of the black tea contained therein and then she smiled. Gwaine wondered what she was smiling about; he decided there and then that he wasn't leaving the terrace without kissing her. He had to know if her kisses were as alluring as her smile.

He stood up and went to the buffet table and got some fruit.

"I thought you don't eat breakfast," Morgana told him when he returned.

"This isn't breakfast," Gwaine said easily, "this is watermelon and pomegranates."

Morgana laughed.

Gwaine looked at her. He was going to kiss her, and he had a feeling that things were going to be serious between them.

"Can I ask you a question?" he heard himself say.

"Do I have a choice?"

"Not really," he replied.

"Okay," she hoped he wasn't going to ask her anything personal.

"Are you seeing anyone?"

"No."

"How many boyfriends have you had?"

"You said a question," Morgana said, "not questions."

"Morgana."

"Okay, fine," she smiled thinly at him.

"How many boyfriends have you had?" he asked again.

"Three."

"I assume you had them at different times," Gwaine said.

"Obviously," Morgana huffed. "What kind of person do you think I am?"

"That's what I'm trying to find out," he said.

"What about you?" she asked him. "Are you seeing anyone? How many girlfriends have you had?"

"I'm single," he said, "Two serious girlfriends."

"I won't ask what serious means to you," Morgana said. "Did you ever cheat on them?"

"No, of course not," he was insulted, "why would you ask me that?"

"You started this," she reminded him.

"I wanted to get to know you," Gwaine said.

"I'm also trying to get to know you," Morgana told him. "So, did you ever kiss another woman when you were in these serious relationships?"

"Does kissing another woman on the cheek count?"

"Yes, definitely."

"Then yes," Gwaine admitted.

Morgana narrowed her eyes at him but didn't ask him who he was talking about.

"I kiss my mom on the cheek every time we meet and my little sister Kayla, too."

"How old's your sister?" Morgana asked.

"Sixteen going on thirty," Gwaine said.

Morgana stopped herself from telling him that she would like to meet them, although she really did. Inexplicably, she wanted to meet Gwaine's mother and sister.

"Forgive me," Gwaine told her, "but I have to do this."

"Do what?"

"This," Gwaine replied, and he leaned forward and kissed her.

000

Gwen woke up with a start. She looked around trying to remember what had woken her up. She heard again, that noise. It sounded like a pig. She was in a bed, a really comfortable one so there couldn't be any animals around especially a pig. It all came back to her, the wedding, and her parent's speech and their disappearance from the wedding reception. Arthur. She was locked up in a room with Arthur. He snored like a pig.

Laughing softly to herself at that thought Gwen fell asleep again.

When Gwen woke again, the room was streaming with light. She scrambled out of bed, noticed that Arthur had already cleared the floor of his beddings and went to the bathroom. She had a quick shower and when she returned to the bedroom she found Arthur sitting on the bed waiting for her.

"Good morning, Guinevere," he smiled at her.

"Good morning," she replied. "Sleep well?"

"Yes, I actually did," he said. "You?"

"I tried," Gwen told him, "but it was kind of difficult."

"Sleeping in a strange bed can be hard," he concurred, "but at least you had a bed."

"The bed wasn't the problem," Gwen said, "it was very comfortable but your snoring kept waking me up."

"I do not snore," he denied immediately.

"I beg to differ," Gwen said. "I thought I was sleeping in a pigsty."

"I do not snore," he repeated. "And even if I did I wouldn't sound like a pig."

Gwen laughed.

"You're a morning person, aren't you Guinevere?"

"Are you going to keep calling me that?"

"What? Guinevere?" he shrugged, "It is your name and a beautiful one at that."

She had always preferred being called Gwen and told everybody so as soon as she introduced herself but she found that she couldn't tell him that. It was silly, but she liked the way he said her name.

"It is," she agreed. "And I love mornings, everything seems possible in the morning, although I don't think it's still morning."

They both glanced at the bedside clock. It read 11.47 a.m.

"Okay, it is morning, barely," Gwen said.

"I find cheerful people exhausting in the morning," Arthur told her.

"Why?"

"How can you be cheerful?" he asked. "It's not natural."

"You be grumpy," she said, "I'll be cheerful."

"Do you think your parents will come back for us soon?"

"My parents didn't lock us in here," she insisted, "but somebody is going to open this room today, if only to clean it and then we'll be free."

"Bet you can't wait to see Lance," he said. Why was he bringing up Lance, he wondered to himself.

"He must be out of his mind," Gwen said, "wondering if I'm even still alive."

"Why wouldn't you be alive?" Arthur asked. "It's not as if you were kidnapped, he was the one who refused to come with you, and if he had we would not be here now."

"I know," Gwen agreed, "I'm sure that's what bothering him the most. He must be blaming himself for not coming with me."

Arthur nodded and then said, "I can't believe I didn't even think to watch TV last night."

"What?" she was confused.

"TV," Arthur told her, "I'm sure there's one here somewhere."

"TV?"

"Yes, TV," he said, "we could have watched something yesterday."

"Fine," she still didn't really understand what he was talking about. "Sure."

Arthur shook his head; he also didn't know why he was bringing up the TV at such a time. At her look he said, "I just wondered about it, that's all."

"You're a bit weird, aren't you?"

"You're the one who's cheerful in the morning," Arthur told her.

"That's not being weird;" she defended herself, "that's being normal."

Arthur watched her talk; he saw her lips move but couldn't really hear the words. He leaned in as if in slow motion and would have touched his lips to hers if they hadn't heard the door opening.

Gwen and Arthur rushed through to the sitting room. Felicity and Tom had entered and were looking around. "Good afternoon," Felicity said to them, smiling brightly.

"Mother, how could you?"

"Your father and I needed some time to talk," Felicity said.

"And have you talked?" Gwen asked them.

Tom nodded. "We're sorry about locking you in the room; it seemed like the solution at the time."

"Really?"

"Yes," Felicity said, "and see; you're fine, you're both fine, no harm done."

"I can't believe this," Gwen said.

"If you could give my phone and wallet, I'll be on my way," Arthur said.

"You're leaving just like that?" Gwen asked him. She didn't know why but somehow she couldn't bear the thought of him leaving.

"I thought that's what you wanted," Arthur told her.

"Please tell me we interrupted something," Felicity begged.

"You didn't interrupt anything," Gwen replied,

"Fine," Felicity smiled to herself, something was definitely going on.

"I need to call Lance," Gwen told her parents, "and we're going back to the country club, Sophia and Gwaine must be worried."

"Of course," Felicity agreed, "let's go."

000

"We're on our way back," Gwen told Lance. Tom had given her his phone.

"Thank God," Lance told her, "I was going out of my mind with worry."

"I know, I'm sorry," Gwen said, "I'll tell you the whole story when I see you."

Arthur, Gwen, Felicity and Tom made their way towards the reception. The Hoods were going to check out, and then Gwen and her parents were going back to the country club while Arthur was going back home.

000

"I'm waiting for you in the foyer," Mrs. Bennington-Jones Senior told her son. "Be here in five minutes."

Lance put down the phone, thankful that his mother had opted to call him instead of barging into his room. He got out of the bed and went to the bathroom.

"Where are you going?" Sophia pouted.

"Mother called," Lance told her, "she's waiting for me downstairs."

"You don't think she suspects anything, do you?" Sophia was a bit worried. She certainly didn't want to get on the wrong side of Mrs. Bennington-Jones Senior.

"No," Lance was getting dressed, "if mother suspected anything she'd be here in this room right now."

"I guess I better go back to my room," Sophia told him and she got out of bed and picked up her clothes.

"I'll call you when I finish talking to mother," Lance promised her.

He walked to the foyer and found his mother standing there looking very impatient.

"Well?" she asked him, "your father has a meeting that can't be put off, so we're leaving now. Where is Gwen, is she not yet back?"

"I haven't heard from her today," Lance told her, "but I'm sure she's on her way back."

"She had better be," his mother said, "I still don't understand why you didn't go with her."

"I did what I thought was best," Lance said, "I'm trying to keep a low profile."

"I know," his mother sighed, "but letting her go off, alone, with Arthur Pendragon. We can only imagine what they've been up to."

"I'm sure Gwen hasn't behaved improperly in any way," Lance said.

"He's a reporter," Mrs. Bennington-Jones Senior said, "he could easily make up some sort of story that could damage your chances."

"He's a photographer," Lance reminded her, "he doesn't write stories."

"He's probably good at photoshopping which is even worse," she shuddered. "I'm surprised we haven't seen any yet."

"Gwen wouldn't let that happen," Lance insisted. "She knows what's at stake."

"Why did she have to go after her parents?" Mrs. Bennington-Jones Senior wondered aloud, "surely she knows that they are old enough to look after themselves."

Lance shrugged, he had told Gwen that before she'd run off.

"I had Mr. Imbrie draw up the annulment papers, just in case." Mr. Imbrie was the family lawyer. "He's having them sent over, so I'll have them with me."

"We're not annulling our marriage," Lance said.

"Honey," his mother patted his arm, "I didn't say that the marriage was being annulled now, but who knows what may happen an hour from now. I just want you to be prepared."

"Fine."

"Okay, good," she walked with him towards the door, where a car was waiting, "Your father and I are expecting to hear from you and Gwen soon."

000

Although Gwen had somehow known that it would happen she was still surprised that an hour later the four of them were still sitting in the restaurant eating.

"Lance is probably very worried," she told her parents. "I told him we were on our way an hour ago."

"Lance is a big boy," Felicity said, "besides, we were hungry and there seemed no point in going back all that way to eat when there's a perfectly good restaurant right here."

"Mother!"

"The food here's better," Felicity insisted.

"We needed to make it up to Arthur before he walked out of our lives," Tom added.

Inspite of himself, Arthur burst out laughing. Felicity and Tom were hilarious.

"Arthur's happy at least," Felicity said.

"He's not happy," Gwen told them, "he thinks you're mad."

"He doesn't think we're mad," Felicity countered, "but you're right, dear, let's not keep the people waiting anymore."

Arthur and Gwen walked towards the entrance; Felicity and Tom had ordered her to walk Arthur to his car, a valet was bringing it to the entrance.

"Well this was fun," Gwen begun.

"A wedding night story for the books," Arthur replied.

Gwen nodded.

"I guess this is goodbye, then," Arthur said.

"Yes," Gwen agreed, "goodbye, Arthur."

Arthur stared at her a while and then making a quick decision, he pulled her towards him and touched his lips to hers. Gwen went completely still at first, she couldn't believe Arthur was kissing her, and then she felt as though she was on fire from the top of her head to the soles of her feet. Briefly she thought of pushing him away but then she closed her eyes and lost herself in the kiss.

They remained like that for a while and then Arthur pulled away slowly. He was looking at her gently but searchingly, wondering what her reaction would be, what he saw in her eyes must have pleased him because he broke into a slow but steady smile.

Gwen saw the smile on his face and then it hit her, she had kissed him. More, she had kissed him and enjoyed it. What was she going to tell Lance? How could she face Lance after this?

Arthur thought about apologizing for kissing her but he didn't because he wasn't sorry at all, in fact he wanted to kiss her again.

Gwen was just staring at floor. She couldn't believe she had let herself enjoy kissing Arthur. So he wasn't the scoundrel that she thought he was, still she couldn't go around kissing strange men, she was a happily married woman.

'You haven't been married long enough to say that,' a thought unbidden crossed her mind, 'you haven't even spent ten minutes alone with Lance since you got married.' She shook her head to clear it but another thought popped up. 'You've spent more time with Arthur than you ever have with Lance.'

She clenched her fists and turned to look at Arthur but before any of them could say a word, they heard a voice saying, "Gwen, honey, there you are. You can't believe how worried I've been."

They turned and saw Lance walking towards them.

000


	5. Chapter 5

**Thanks for reading, reviewing and following.**

Lance had made a decision after talking to his mother in the foyer. He was going to make his marriage to Gwen work. Yes, he had made a mistake, he'd cheated on her, on their wedding day no less, but she didn't know that and he was sure that they could get past it. Honestly, one could argue that it Gwen's fault that he had cheated on her with Sophia, what kind of bride left her husband on their wedding night.

He had thought of not calling Sophia like he'd promised he would, but in the end he decided to call her and tell her. She was an actress and who knew what she would tell the press if she got the chance. Sophia was very understanding; of course they couldn't go on seeing each other, he was a married man after all and only lately married at that, and more importantly he was running for office. She told him that he should call her when he could and Lance agreed; when their lives were back in rhythm they would get in touch with each other.

After she left, Lance had changed clothes, ordered some room service – he didn't dare go to the restaurant just in case he run into any of the others – and after eating he'd set off to town to get his bride back.

It crossed his mind that there was a possibility that Gwen had found some companionship the night before but he soon convinced himself otherwise. Gwen was too honourable, too good to cheat on him like that especially on their wedding night. No, he couldn't let himself even consider it; Gwen had just been looking for her parents.

He really shouldn't have let her go off alone with that Arthur Pendragon, lowly photographer though he was; but Lance had been tired and angry, the Smiths had made his wedding a spectacle like he'd feared they would. He could see why women would be attracted to Arthur but Gwen wouldn't have let anything happen between them.

Still, he was a bit worried when he found Gwen and Arthur standing together at the entrance of the hotel. They were not kissing or even in each other's embrace but he wondered for a second if something had happened. He shook it off, and called out, "Gwen, honey, there you are. You can't believe how worried I've been."

Gwen looked up at Lance and smiled at him, "Lance, how nice to see you."

"I was worried," Lance repeated, hugging and kissing her, "I couldn't bear to spend another second away from you."

Arthur was just standing there looking at them both; he wondered what would have happened if Lance had not chosen that moment to show up, he was certain that he and Gwen would have kissed again but on the other hand it was probably best that Lance had shown up.

"Pendragon," Lance turned to Arthur, "thank you for bringing Gwen to town. I was too tired to drive into town yesterday but I'm here now. I'll take her back."

Arthur nodded.

Gwen turned to him and smiled, "Thank you Arthur, for everything."

"It was my pleasure, Guinevere," Arthur said.

"Guinevere?" Lance asked. "You call her Guinevere?" He shook his head, he'd obviously been mistaken in thinking that Gwen and Arthur had anything going on between them; if they'd spent any time together Gwen would have told him how much she disliked being called by her full name.

Arthur didn't bother to reply, he needed to leave before he did something stupid like punching Lance in the face just for being married to Guinevere. Thankfully, his car was brought round and he got in and left.

"Where are your parents?" Lance asked, after Arthur's car had disappeared from their view.

"They're still inside," Gwen said, "let's go and get them."

Lance wanted to refuse; surely Felicity and Tom would take them off to wherever they saw fit but he knew that Gwen wouldn't go anywhere without them.

"Lance, you finally decided to show up," Felicity told him. "How nice."

"Do you have any idea what you did?" Lance asked her.

"I'm sure the voters won't think any less of you because of our actions," Tom assured him.

"That's not what I meant," Lance denied immediately.

"Of course," Felicity agreed, sarcastically.

"I was so worried about Gwen," Lance told them.

"Of course you were," Felicity laughed, "which is why Gwen came to look for us with Arthur Pendragon."

"I was tired," Lance said, "and she's your daughter not your parent you should be the ones looking out for her not the other way around."

"You're right," Tom slapped the younger man on the back, "so then, shall we?"

000

"I'm so glad you're back," Sophia threw herself at Tom. "Everything was so boring without you."

Tom nodded and said, "My dear, we have to talk."

Sophia smiled at him. "I know; you want to break our engagement."

"It was a mistake," Tom told her, "and I took advantage of you, I wish I could say that I was drunk when we spent the night together."

Sophia laughed. "I was the one who seduced you, remember?"

"I should have had the sense to say no," Tom was ashamed. "I'm too old and jaded for you."

"You're so sweet," Sophia told him, "and because you are I will tell you something."

"What?"

"You never asked me to marry you," Sophia admitted, "I just said that you had."

Tom smiled at her; he had been a bit surprised when she said that he was asked her to marry him but much of their evening together was a blur, "I'm still sorry for this whole thing."

"Don't be," Sophia assured him. "It was fun." She kissed him and walked out of the room.

000

"So, what happened?"

Gwaine eyed Felicity. "What do you mean, what happened?"

Felicity narrowed her eyes at him. "Something very serious must have happened."

"Nothing happened," Gwaine said, "I haven't been this bored in months."

"Really?" Felicity asked, "Is that why you were looking at Morgana like that?"

"Like what?"

"Like she's a puzzle that you've only half-figured out."

"I wasn't looking at her like that," Gwaine denied.

"No you weren't," Felicity agreed. "So, what happened?"

"We talked, that's all."

"And?" Felicity insisted.

"Okay, alright," Gwaine out up his hands in surrender, "you were right, she's great, the kind of woman I could spend every day with.'

"I told you," Felicity said. "You kissed her, didn't you?"

He nodded. "How did you know?"

She snorted. "You forget that I know you, and very well at that."

"Fine," Gwaine said, "so how are things with you and Tom?"

"They're great actually," she said, "perfect in fact."

"That's good." The two friends hugged each other.

000

"You're home," Merlin stopped short when he entered the sitting room and found Arthur sitting there.

"Yes."

"What happened?" Merlin asked. "It must have been some wedding if you're only coming home now or were you drowning your sorrows in a beer jug?"

"Of course not," Arthur answered.

"I was only joking about the bar," Merlin said, "but seriously where were you? I tried calling you earlier but it went straight to voice mail."

"You'll never believe what happened to me," Arthur told his friend.

"Try me."

Merlin sat enraptured throughout Arthur's retelling and didn't ask a single question until Arthur stopped talking.

"They actually locked you in the room?" Merlin asked.

"Yes," Arthur nodded, "they wanted some time alone without Gwen's interference or so Felicity said."

"But locking you in the room?"

"They're eccentric," Arthur laughed, "and maddening but it's impossible to stay angry with them."

"So you and Gwen just talked the whole night?"

"Of course," Arthur said, "she's a married woman and I'm a gentleman, I would never take advantage of her like that."

"Right," Merlin agreed immediately, "of course. What was I thinking?"

"It was a magical night," Arthur said, "We ate supper on the balcony and then spent most of the night talking."

"You had food?"

"She prefers to be called Gwen not Guinevere but I can't think why, she had these small dimples on her cheek when she smiles, and she has a great laugh. She's funny and loves her work, making a difference in the lives of children; she's obsessed with not being like her parents." Arthur stopped talking when he saw the way his friend was looking at him and realised that Merlin had asked him a question. "Yes, we had food. They had left some food on the balcony."

"So Gwen's great, is she?"

"She loves Lance," Arthur said, "she told me so a number of times."

"That's not what I asked," Merlin told him.

"She's great," Arthur agreed, "I'm glad I got the chance to get to know her."

"Yes, finally," Merlin said, "after all those years of being obsessed with her, you spent some time with her."

"I'm not obsessed with her," Arthur denied.

"You're not," Merlin said, "but you like her, don't you?"

Arthur shrugged. "She's married."

"Marriages break up all the time," Merlin pointed out, "and maybe she doesn't love Lancelot."

"Oh, she loves him," Arthur said miserably, "she told me countless times and I doubt she would have married him if she didn't love him."

"So what are you going to do?"

"Nothing," Arthur said, "there's nothing to be done. She's going to become a Senator's wife and I will remain the man she spent her wedding night with."

"She spent her wedding night with you," Merlin said, "that has to count for something."

"Haven't you been listening? It wasn't by choice and nothing happened," Arthur said. "In fact, I'm rather glad that nothing did."

Merlin nodded. "You think she'd hate you if something had happened."

"She'd hate herself more," Arthur said, "which would be far worse."

Merlin nodded.

000

"This is a nice surprise," Hunith said.

"Yes," Merlin said hugging his mother, "we decided to pop in for a visit."

"How was the wedding?" Hunith asked Arthur. Arthur had told them about his gig at the Smith Bennington-Jones wedding.

"Felicity and Tom made a scene," Arthur said, "and the bride ended up spending her wedding night with me."

"You run off with Gwen," Hunith gazed at him in shock, "I'll grant you that I've known that you had a thing for her but running and spending the night with Gwen. What did Lancelot do?"

"I don't have a thing for Guinevere," Arthur denied.

Merlin and Hunith exchanged a look and Hunith dropped that subject. "What did Lancelot do?" she asked again.

"I found Guinevere looking for a ride into town after Lance had refused to go with her," Arthur explained.

"He just let you go off with his wife?" Hunith was surprised.

"He didn't know at the time," Arthur reasoned, "I'm sure if he had known that I was going to give her ride he would have objected."

"When you say you spent the night with her?" Hunith asked Arthur, "What exactly do you mean?"

"Exactly that," Merlin said. "They spent the night together."

"Arthur?" Hunith asked him. "Please tell me you didn't sleep with another man's wife on their wedding day."

"I didn't," Arthur tried to reassure her. "Felicity and Tom locked us in a room but I promise you nothing happened."

"Felicity and Tom?" Hunith asked. "Gwen's parents?"

Arthur nodded. "They claimed that they didn't want her to interfere with their plans."

"And locking you up in a room was the only way to ensure that I suppose?" Hunith asked.

Arthur shrugged. "Who knows how they think? Anyway they locked us in the room for the night."

Hunith couldn't wrap her head around the fact that Gwen's parents had locked her in a room with a stranger on her wedding night so that she would not interfere with their plans. Actors were really strange people.

"So you spent the night with Gwen?" she asked instead.

"And she's perfect," Merlin said, in answer to Hunith's unspoken question.

"I see," Hunith smiled at her dear boys. Arthur was in quite the bind. She walked over to him and hugged him again. "It will be fine," she told him, "you'll see."

"How can you say that, Mum?" Merlin asked her, "She's married."

"These things have a way of sorting themselves out," Hunith pointed out, "you'll see."

000

"We're going to Italy," Tom said.

"Yes," Felicity agreed, "luckily we're both not working now, so we're going to spend some time alone."

"That's great," Gwen told them.

Tom, Felicity, Gwen, Lance and Tom were sitting in the country club lounge. Gwaine and Morgana were still in their rooms but would be joining them soon.

"We're also going on honeymoon," Lance said, "finally."

"I can't wait," Gwen told them, "although Lance has still refused to tell where we're going."

"That's what surprise means," Lance said, "but I promise you you'll like it."

"I'm sure I will," Gwen enthused.

"So you spent the night with Arthur Pendragon?" Sophia asked. Gwen had told them, briefly, what had happened.

"We were locked in the room, yes," Gwen replied, "but like I said before nothing happened."

"A likely story," Sophia said. "You expect us to believe that?"

"It's the truth," Gwen said. Sophia was getting on her nerves; why was she still there, anyway?

"Honey, ignore her," Lance said.

Gwen nodded, she didn't care what Sophia thought; she was telling the truth.

Lance glared at Sophia, she had promised keep their secret; what was she doing? But Sophia either didn't see Lance glaring at her or she didn't care. "You were locked in a room with an attractive man and nothing happened?"

"Sophia, that's enough," Tom told her.

"You people think you're so good, walking around like nothing can touch you," Sophia said.

"What are you talking about?" Felicity asked. The poor girl was deranged.

"If I had been locked in a room with Lance something sure would have happened," Sophia said, "in fact it did and no one had locked us up in the room."

"What?!" Gwen, Felicity and Tom all turned to look at Lance.

"Sophia, stop this at once," Lance said.

"Why?" Sophia asked him. "You lie to her all you want but I'm not going to lie to her."

"What is she talking about?" Gwen asked Lance.

"Tell her," Sophia told Lance. "Tell her what's going on."

"Gwen, I don't know how to say this," Lance began, "and please believe me, I am so sorry, sorrier than I can say and I should have told you before."

"Told me what?" Gwen asked him.

"That we spent yesterday night together and we were not doing nothing," Sophia said. "Now everyone's up to speed."

"You slept with Sophia?" Gwen asked Lance, hurt.

"You're one to talk," Lance said, "you spent the night locked up in a room with Arthur Pendragon."

"Nothing happened," Gwen said. She should never have told him about being locked in the room with Arthur.

"So you keep saying," Lance told her, "you don't you really expect me to believe that you?"

Gwen had been frozen in her seat but now she stood up and walked out.

000


	6. Chapter 6

**Thanks for reading and reviewing.**

000

Gwen was surprised at how quickly the next two days went – although knowing how powerful the Bennington-Joneses were she really shouldn't have been surprised. She'd hardly had time to process the fact that even if Lance was the one who had broken their marriage vows, betrayed her and broken her heart, he still somehow thought that it was her fault. She couldn't believe she had actually loved him.

She had run out of the room closely followed by her parents and while Felicity had been trying to calm her down, to assure her that everything would be fine, and that she would be able to move on with her life; Gwen hadn't heard a word her mother was saying she was just calling herself every kind of fool there was in the world. No wonder Lance hadn't wanted to sleep with her, she'd told herself that he was being romantic, that he wanted their wedding night to be special but all along he'd just never been attracted to her that way, that he had just wanted – what? She didn't even know why Lance had wanted to marry her.

To top it off, Lance had walked into small lounge where they were sitting and announced calmly, "Mother's said that our lawyer's on his way here with the annulment papers."

His announcement had been met with silence. Gwen had wanted to scream at him for casually saying that their marriage could be wiped away that easily but she didn't have the strength for that.

"She's the one who had the papers drawn up," Lance added, "she did it without my knowledge but you have to agree that it's what's best in the circumstances."

"For your campaign, you mean?" Gwen asked, quietly.

"For all of us," Lance insisted. "You don't want to be a divorcee when you were hardly ever married."

Gwen nodded slowly. She had really picked a winner to marry. "Get out," she said, "get out."

Tom had called Gaius, a good friend and lawyer, to help them with the legal end of things. The lawyers had come up with grounds that were acceptable to both parties and had taken the papers to court to be filled. The next day, Gaius had come to her flat and told Gwen that as far as everyone was concerned she had never been married at all.

It was really ridiculous the way a court could declare that something hadn't happened when it clearly had. She had worn a wedding dress, exchanged vows and there had been about thirty witnesses but now she was being told that as far as anyone was concerned that had never happened.

She had never been married.

Her parents had wanted her to join them on their trip to Italy and Gwen had initially refused. She hadn't done anything wrong – she wasn't going to run, but after Gaius had left the flat she had changed her mind. She needed to get out of town for a while and Italy sounded perfect.

000

"You said it yourself," Merlin told him, "she isn't married anymore; so what's stopping you?"

"She may not be married," Arthur agreed, "but that doesn't mean that she wants to see me."

"You can't know what she wants unless you talk to her," Merlin told him. "So, go, find her and talk."

"She's in Italy," Arthur said.

"So?" Merlin asked. "Go to Italy."

Arthur shook his head. He couldn't just show up in Italy uninvited. He didn't know the particulars of Lance and Gwen's separation; of course, there were rumours flying about but Lance Bennington-Jones Jr. was on the campaign trail sans a wife and he'd told his constituents that things hadn't worked out with Gwen Smith but that he was still as committed as ever to serve them in the Senate.

Arthur wondered what had really happened between Lance and Gwen and he hoped that his being locked up with her for a night had had nothing to do with their separation.

"The FTC awards are coming up," Arthur said, "which means I have to work."

"These ceremonies are boring," Merlin reminded him, "you can afford to miss one."

"Not if I want to be paid," Arthur said.

"You don't need to work right now," Merlin told him, "you have some money saved and I also work so you can afford to take some time off."

"I'm not going to Italy," Arthur told him.

"Okay."

'And I am going to work the FTC awards," Arthur added.

000

Gwen made her way to the bar and found a stool. She was somewhat glad that she'd let Morgana talk her into joining her and Gwaine at Leon's a swanky club. She had refused pointblank at first- she'd just returned from Italy that afternoon and was tired but Morgana had refused to listen to any of her excuses, she would sleep later, after all she still had two whole weeks before she had to return to work. Gwen was surprised to realise that she'd enjoyed herself she had had more fun than she'd thought she would have.

On the flight back, Gwen had made plans for her night – she was going to stay in and watch movies, maybe binge on some ice cream. Her parents hadn't let her out of their sight in Italy, they'd probably thought that she would do something crazy but Gwen hadn't entertained any crazy thoughts – apart from imagining herself pouring a vat of hot oil on Lance – and she had really appreciated her parents' thoughtfulness. So she had thought that she would have some time to herself that evening, she knew that Morgana had plans with Gwaine but then they had roped her into them and she was glad she wasn't alone.

000

Arthur entered Leon's and made his way to the bar. He was supposed to be having a night out with his friends – Merlin had insisted – and the gang; Arthur, Merlin, Leon and Percival, were to meet at Leon's club. Arthur was late – he had been finishing up some work and he hadn't really been interested in going out but he figured he needed to put in an appearance even if it was just for a few minutes. It had been a while since he'd seen Percival and Leon.

He knew his friends would probably be seated in a booth but he made his way to the bar. He would get a drink and then find them. As he waited to catch the bartender's eye he looked at the people sitting at the bar and then he saw her.

Arthur had been seeing Gwen quite a bit over the last two weeks so he made himself blink twice to ensure that she wasn't a figment of his imagination like had been the case for the past few weeks.

Nope, it was her. Her curly brown hair was held back from her face in a loose pony tail although a few tendrils were sleeping on her cheeks; she was staring into a glass that appeared untouched.

000

"Hi."

Gwen lifted her eyes from the glass and slowly turned to face the man who was addressing her. She was in no mood to be picked up and she was going to tell him in no uncertain terms.

She looked up and saw Arthur smiling at her. "Hi."

"How are you?" he asked her. He slid onto the stool next to hers.

"I'm fine," she smiled. When Arthur just continued to look at her she added, "I'm really fine. I guess you heard the news."

Arthur nodded, "Lance's best man, his cousin told me something about the uhm…dissolution of the marriage." Lance's best man, his cousin, Titus Imbrie, was the son of the Bennington-Joneses lawyer but Arthur didn't think that Gwen needed to know that.

"Apparently I was never married," Gwen said.

"And how do you feel about that?"

Gwen smiled. "Surprisingly good. There were moments when I thought that my heart would literally break into pieces but now I'm fine."

He reached for her hand and took it in his. "Are you really?"

"No," she shook her head, "but I will be."

"Good."

They sat in silence for a while, each seemingly lost in thought and then Arthur said, "would you like to take a walk with me? Or are you waiting for someone?"

"I'd love to take a walk with you," Gwen replied, "I'll just go and tell Morgana that I'm leaving."

000

They walked in silence; the street was empty with one or two other people walking at the time, everything seemed perfect and peaceful. Gwen looked at the night sky; it was one of those few nights when the sky was filled with stars and it was breathtaking, she wanted to point it out but she didn't want to break the silence so she contented herself with staring up every few minutes.

"I'm not sure about many things in my life, and most of the time I don't even know what I want but right now I know that I never want this evening to end, I don't want. . I don't want to live knowing that I had what I've been missing all my life within my grasp and that I let it go."

"What did you say?"

Arthur didn't even realise that he'd spoken aloud until he had Gwen's question.

"Nothing," he swallowed, "I didn't say anything."

Gwen stopped and looked at him. She'd heard what he'd said. "Arthur, what did you say?"

He squared his shoulders. She had heard what he'd said and she still here waiting for him to say it again. "I know it's not the right time for me to… truth is I never know what to say or even when to say it…I can't imagine my life without you in it," he said.

"Really?"

Arthur nodded.

"Then let me tell you this, granted we did spend one night together," she shook her head, "and we shared stories but that doesn't mean we know each other at all. Attraction between two people is one thing, but it doesn't mean anything. It never means anything." And she knew; she'd been attracted to Lance and he'd been attracted to her but that hadn't meant anything to him.

Arthur smiled. She had admitted that she was attracted to him. That was something that they could build on to make something.

"Why are you smiling?" she asked him.

He stared at her at a moment and pulled her closer and planted a soft kiss on her lips. It was a short kiss, and he pulled away almost as soon as he'd leaned in.

Gwen found herself involuntarily reaching out her hand to touch his chest; she smiled when she felt his heart thudding furiously against it. She looked up at him, and saw a stunned expression on his face which was identical to the one on her face although she didn't know it.

Without thinking about it, she stood on her tiptoes to kiss him – just a smile kiss she told herself – but Arthur responded immediately and their kiss deepened. They stood entwined for a while and would have remained even longer if a voice hadn't intruded.

"I should have guessed I would find you kissing a girl."

Arthur and Gwen broke apart and stared at the young black-haired man who was grinning at them.

"What do you want Merlin?" Arthur asked. Merlin always managed to show up where he wasn't wanted.

"This is our night out; remember," Merlin replied, "we're supposed to be inside talking about our miserable lives, not kissing girls."

"Guinevere," Arthur said, "meet Merlin, my friend. Merlin, this is Guinevere."

Merlin laughed and pulled Gwen in for a hug. "It's so good to finally meet you. Let's go inside."

"Actually, we were -", Arthur began but Merlin didn't let him finish. Instead he said, "The guys are dying to meet you Guinevere," he took her hand, "Arthur, you can join us if you want. I'm sure you can continue your conversation later."

000


	7. Chapter 7

**Thanks for reading and reviewing.**

000

Morgana threw the third black dress onto her bed and shook her head. What was wrong with her? It wasn't like she'd never been on a date before and she had spent a lot of time – alone – with Gwaine a few days ago at Leon's. Who was she kidding? She knew what the problem really was. Inspite of herself, and of the promises she'd made, she was falling in love with Gwaine Lee, a self-assured bad boy and determined flirt, a man who was too sure of himself. She'd known such men before and that was when she'd promised herself that she would give them a wide berth and stir clear of them but she now Gwaine was making her rethink all those promises.

She could admit, although grudgingly, that she had been relieved that Gwaine had had business taking him out of town for the two weeks that Gwen had been in Italy; she'd needed the time to think, to get her life back on course not that she'd had the chance to. Gwaine had called her every night and after a few days Morgana had begun to look forward to his voice being the last thing she heard before she slept.

She was a coward. But, she consoled herself, cowards lived longer, or so the saying went. Whatever. She was confused. She really wanted to see Gwaine to spend time with him, but when he'd called to invite her to Leon's the other night, she'd told him that Gwen would be joining them, although Gwen hadn't yet returned at the time, that Gwen needed her. Gwaine had been very good about it, and he hadn't once complained or even seemed to resent Gwen's presence.

She was been excited in the morning when he'd called to invite her to dinner and he'd even invited Gwen along, if Morgana still needed to keep an eye on her, but Morgana had told that Gwen wouldn't be joining them, and Gwaine had laughed making her laugh as well.

Now, less than an hour, she glanced at her bedside clock, fifty seven minutes to be exact, before Gwaine was due to pick her up, she was in a panic. She couldn't decide what to wear and she was actually worried that she'd made a mistake agreeing to dinner and that something would go wrong.

"Wear the green dress."

Morgana looked up at Gwen's voice. "Really?"

"Yes," Gwen smiled at her, "it brings out your eyes and you look amazing in it."

"Okay," Morgana went to her wardrobe and got the green dress out.

"And stop obsessing," Gwen ordered her, "Gwaine seems like a great guy and he adores you."

"I'm not obsessing," Morgana denied immediately, "I was just choosing a dress. What makes you think he adores me?"

"He told me so," Gwen told her, "when I asked him what his intentions towards you were."

"You did not."

"Yes, I did," Gwen assured her, "I was looking out for you, like you did when I was dating Lance and you better not ignore my advice like I did yours."

Morgana hugged her friend. It was the first time Gwen had said Lance's name since she'd returned home. "It will be fine."

"I know it will," Gwen agreed.

"Speaking of, who were those guys you were sitting with last night after you said goodbye to me?" Morgana asked.

"I run into Arthur and some friends of his," Gwen replied.

"I see." Morgana smiled. "So, you and Arthur, huh?"

"I know what you're doing," Gwen told her, "but this is about you and not about me."

"It could be about both of us," Morgana said.

"Well, it's not," Gwen said, "so get ready, already, Gwaine will be here soon."

000

Gwen picked up the TV remote and flicked through the channels. Finally she settled on a whodunit, it would keep her occupied for almost two hours and then she would sleep.

The ringing of the doorbell got her to her feet. She hoped that whoever it was would not stay long. She was in no mood for entertaining.

"Hello," she said breathlessly. Arthur was standing outside her door.

"Guinevere, I hope I didn't catch you at a bad time."

"No," Gwen replied, she had wondered if she would see him after the other night. They hadn't really had a chance to talk, she had had a good time with his friends but they hadn't made any plans and Gwen wasn't really sure how she felt about seeing him now.

She opened the door wider and let him in.

"I decided to chance it and drop in unannounced," he said as he followed her in. "I hope that's alright."

Gwen was staring at him. He'd entered the flat, gone through the tiny hallway and was standing near the door of the sitting room taking in the room. He could see that she must have been half-lying on the sofa watching TV. Maybe he shouldn't have dropped in, he told himself; it probably hadn't been a great idea.

"You know what, Guinevere," he started, "you've probably had a long day, I know I have, and you're tired and in no mood for entertaining. I should go… I shouldn't even have…"

"No."

Arthur turned to face Guinevere, his heart was pounding so loudly in his chest, and he'd probably misheard. "No?"

"I don't want you to leave, Arthur," Gwen told him, "unless you want to, that is."

Arthur smiled at her. He'd barged in on her evening. Until he'd arrived at her door, he hadn't even considered the possibility that she may not be home or worse still that she had visitors. He had wanted to see her and he'd driven out to her flat – never mind that she'd actually never told him where she lived.

Guinevere smiled back at him and in that moment she realised that she actually didn't want him to leave – that his showing up at her flat unannounced was the best thing that had happened to her all day.

"I don't want you to leave," she repeated hoarsely, as much for her own benefit as for Arthur's.

Arthur's smile widened and without thinking about it he closed the distance between them and reached for her hand; his fingers barely touched hers. He would have leant in and kissed her but she spoke.

"Arthur…you mean a lot to me," she said softly, her voice trembling. She could see that her words were not being taken in the way she'd meant them, because his smile faltered. "What I mean is… I have feelings for you too. But I have just come out of a very bad relationship, and these … feelings are much stronger than I have ever felt before, and so very new, and I honestly have no idea what we're doing here, and I'm not sure where this is going, and well…" She took a deep breath and reached out and touched his cheek. "I don't want to lose you, Arthur."

Guinevere had barely finished speaking when Arthur pulled her into the circle of his arms and hugged her fiercely. He cradled her head against his chest and sighed deeply. Then he dropped a tender kiss on her forehead.

She raised her head, seeking his mouth and sealing her lips to his. Guinevere had the feeling that Arthur hesitated for a few seconds before he lowered his head to hers again, brushing his lips against hers, tentatively at first, then more firmly as she responded.

They had kissed before but this kiss seemed to signal a new step in their relationship, like they were finally beginning something fresh. It felt so good. So right. It was right and good but Guinevere couldn't help but feel her fears returning, forcing her to pull away.

Arthur couldn't believe Guinevere was breaking off their kiss and he groaned involuntarily. "Guinevere…"

Guinevere stepped out of his embrace and took two steps back. They needed to talk. Before things went any further. Before she found herself in a similar situation to the one she'd been in just a few weeks ago.

She cleared her throat, she needed to shake off the haze that had taken over her mind, but she couldn't let go of Arthur completely. Instead she contented herself with sliding down her hands from his chest down his arms and lacing her fingers with his.

"Arthur, what are we doing?"

"I don't think I understand that question." He smiled lazily at her. "I thought it was clear what we were doing. Unless, of course, we're doing it all wrong."

"Be serious, Arthur," Guinevere begged him. "What is happening between us is great… more than great even…" she sighed and decided to tell him what was really bothering her. She looked him directly in the eyes and whispered, "What if it doesn't work out?"

Arthur wished he could tell her that it would work out that he would love her forever, longer even but he knew that this wasn't the time to be flippant, especially considering what she'd been through. From what he knew of her, she wasn't one to give her heart lightly and Lance's betrayal must have cut her deep, so he had to choose his words carefully.

They had something powerful. Strong. Kissing her, holding her in his arms, was wonderful beyond his wildest dreams. Arthur could honestly have spent the rest of the evening and night kissing her but Guinevere's concern was genuine.

"Guinevere, ever since your wedding, that night that we spent together, I made myself a promise" he told her, "that I would be there for you, no matter what, that I would be your friend and more, that I would be everything you needed me to be."

"Really?" Guinevere was looking at him in shock. "You promised yourself that? Then?"

He shrugged. "It's what you do when you love someone."

They stared at each other in silence after his words. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to say that," he told her.

"What exactly?" Guinevere asked him.

"I… meant what I said," Arthur told her, "but I didn't mean to put you on the spot like that. You probably just want us to be …friends."

"I do want us to be friends," Guinevere told him, "and whatever happens I do hope that we shall always be friends. But I really hope that we can be friends and more. So much more."

Arthur gently removed one of his hands from hers and reached up to tuck a strand of hair behind her ear. "Guinevere," he said intensely. "I know you need time." He took a deep breath and added. "I love you, and I'll wait for you."

Guinevere had thought that hearing another man telling her that he loved her would have her running for the hills but instead she went back into Arthur's embrace and rested her head against his chest. She wasn't ready to even voice or admit what she felt for him but she was happy and content for now. She would analyse what this all meant later. Somehow she didn't feel the urge to respond to his declaration of love; she was sure that Arthur wasn't going to walk out of her life because she hadn't reciprocated. Somehow, without rhyme or reason, she trusted Arthur and she knew that whatever she was ready for was enough.

They smiled at each other.

000

Morgana entered the flat at 1:00 am. She hadn't been out that late in years nor had quite as much fun. The light was still on in the sitting room – she hoped Gwen hadn't sat up waiting for her. Her friend was going to tease her; Morgana had almost refused to come out of her room when Gwaine had arrived to pick her. She had been convinced that that the evening was going to be a disaster. She entered the sitting room, ready to defend herself, to own that Gwen had been right, and stopped short and then she smiled to herself.

Guinevere and Arthur were asleep on the sofa.

000


	8. Chapter 8

**Thanks for reading and reviewing.**

000

"You can't be serious." Uther almost wanted to wring his son's neck. Arthur _could not_ be serious.

Arthur shrugged.

"It's bad enough that you're an artist," Uther said, "but now this."

"Guinevere is a very nice person," Arthur said, "if you give her a chance you'll discover that for yourself."

"I don't need to give her a chance," Uther said, "I don't even need to get to know her; I already know all there is to know about her, thanks to people like you." He didn't need to spend any time with Guinevere Smith to get to know her; the tabloids were there for just such a purpose.

"You're wrong about her."

"Wasn't she engaged to the Bennington-Jones boy, Lance, just a few months ago?"

"You know she was."

Uther nodded. "And she was left at the altar."

"She wasn't left at the altar."

"You're right," Uther said, "their marriage was annulled and I'm sure it was because of something she did."

"Actually it was all Lance's fault," Arthur said, tightly, "not that it's any of your business."

"I would like nothing better than for it to be none of my business but your involvement with her makes it my business."

Arthur didn't bother to answer. He wished for the tenth time that he hadn't agreed to meet with his father; but he had been putting it off for a while and he knew that this conversation wouldn't have been put off forever.

"How do you know that she's not only interested in you for your money?" Uther asked. "Your grandfather left you a very wealthy man and much as I'm not happy with your work as an artist, you're not doing too badly."

"Guinevere is not interested in my money," Arthur assured him. "She's just a teacher, to be sure, but she's not doing badly at all."

"She's Tom and Felicity Smith's daughter, isn't she?"

"You know exactly whose daughter she is," Arthur told him.

"Yes," Uther agreed. "Tom and Felicity Smith are very successful, but that doesn't mean that she has any money of her own."

"She's not interested in me because of my money."

"Son, be serious," Uther said, "look at her record, it speaks for itself, first Bennington-Jones and now you, you're both from very good families."

"And her family's not good enough?"

"Of course her family's not good enough for us." Uther snapped.

Arthur shook his head. He couldn't believe what he was hearing, but Uther was on a roll. "Face it, Arthur, we, the Pendragons, are like kings, royalty and the Guinevere Smiths of this world of like servants."

"I can't believe this, you're such a snob, Father."

"You know I'm right."

"You're wrong," Arthur told him, "Guinevere is the best person I have ever known and I'm lucky to have her in my life."

"I know you're doing this to annoy me," Uther said, "like you did when you refused to follow in my footsteps and become a lawyer."

"I'm not dating Guinevere to annoy you, Father," Arthur said, "I love her and I'm going to marry her."

Uther put up his hands as if that would block out Arthur's words. "What about Elena Ward, I thought things were serious between you two."

Arthur laughed. "You and Godfrey still dream of us uniting the families, don't you? I told you already, I really like Elena but we're just friends. Nothing more."

"You could work on it," Uther said, "a marriage can be built on friendship."

"For the last time, Father, I am not going to marry Elena just to make you and Godfrey happy."

"What about Mithian Tanner?"

"What about her? Are you going to go through all your friends' daughters?" Arthur asked him, "I already told you I'm not interested in any of them. I have made my choice."

"You're young," Uther said, "you don't know what you want."

"I'm not that young," Arthur said, "and I do know what I want."

"You're sure I can't do anything to change your mind?"

"I'm sure."

"You know that Guinevere Smith's parents are both actors and they are very good at what they do, maybe she's a good an actress as they are and she's only pretending," Uther said, "she's probably bewitched you with her charm and what you're feeling is not real."

"She hasn't bewitched me," Arthur said, "and I know what I am feeling is real."

"I can't believe this," Uther said. "And I do know you son, the way you're speaking and acting now makes me doubt that you're in your right senses."

"Think what you like Father," Arthur told him, "but you're the one who is wrong." He stood up to leave his father's study. He had heard enough and he had a lot of work to do that day.

"I'll give you time, son," Uther said. "You'll get over her soon enough and then you'll do what is expected of the son of Uther Pendragon."

000

"You seem excited," Tom told Felicity.

"I am," Felicity smiled at her husband. "Well, aren't you going to ask me why?" she asked him when he just smiled back at her.

"I figured you'd tell me when you were ready."

"My plan's working," Felicity said.

"What plan?"

"You know, Gwen and Arthur," Felicity said, "it's working."

"Lis, please tell me that you're joking," Tom begged her.

Felicity snorted. "I know what I'm doing and it's the best thing."

"Can't you just content yourself with your acting and those recipes that you love so much?" Tom asked. "Leave our baby alone, she's been through enough."

Felicity stood up and entered the kitchen.

"Hang on," Tom said, following her, "what do you mean it's working? How do you know it's working?"

"I thought you didn't want to know," Felicity quipped.

Tom shook his head at her and went back to the garden.

000

Gwen parked her car and made her way to her kitchen. She was certain she would find her mother there. She had decided to drop in for a visit with her parents. She hadn't seen them in almost a month; after returning from Italy, Tom and Felicity had both been busy with their different acting schedules and Gwen had also been busy at the school; it was almost exam time, but today she wanted to talk to her parents.

"Gwen, what a lovely surprise," Felicity smiled at her daughter. "I'm trying out a new recipe I picked up," she added, she was cutting up vegetables.

"I can see that," Gwen said, Felicity liked trying out new recipes.

"You look happy," Felicity scrutinized her daughter, "are you?"

"I am," Gwen said, "happier than I thought I'd ever be."

"That's good," Felicity could feel her eyes beginning to tear, "I thought you'd never be happy again."

"Don't cry, Mum," Gwen told her, "I'm fine."

"But you weren't," Felicity said, "and it was all my fault." She went to the sink and began to wash the vegetables.

"No," Gwen shook her head, "it wasn't your fault; you can't blame yourself for my mistakes."

"I should have protected you," Felicity said, "but I was so busy working."

"Mother," Gwen told her, "I made the mistake, not you, but now it's fine. I'm fine."

"Thank God," Felicity said, hugging her. Gwen smiled at her mother.

"So, you and Arthur, huh?" Felicity said. "How are things between you?"

Gwen's smile grew wider, did she but know it, "We're good, taking things very slow."

"Slow's good," Felicity said.

Tom had been reading a script in the garden but now he entered the kitchen and joined them. Felicity transferred the food onto a tray and put into the oven.

"Is she grilling you about Arthur?" he asked his daughter, as he kissed her on the cheek.

"Not quite," Gwen replied, "but this reminds me, I thought you hated Arthur, Mum."

"She's an actress," Tom said, "and a very good one, I might add."

"I'm better than good," Felicity told them, "and to answer you unasked question, I would not have locked up my only daughter in a room with a man I didn't like."

"So you like Arthur?"

"Why else do you think I let him follow me around?" Felicity asked.

"You let him follow you around?" Gwen was shocked.

"What can I say?" Felicity shrugged, "he's cute. And a much better choice for you than Lance ever was."

"Are you saying what I think you're saying?" Gwen asked her mother.

"If you're talking about me setting you up with Arthur Pendragon," Felicity smiled at her daughter, "then the answer's yes."

"You could have introduced us properly before the wedding," Gwen said.

"Are you saying that if you'd met Arthur before the wedding then…" Tom began but Gwen cut him off with, "I don't know what would have happened."

"I did try to get you to meet Arthur but you were so convinced I hated him; that he'd ruined my life so I was thinking of ways to do it and then that thing with your father happened at your wedding. I didn't plan on locking you in the room," Felicity admitted, "that just happened but you must agree it was brilliant."

"I don't know why I'm not shouting at you right now," Gwen said. "I should be very angry with you."

"I wouldn't bother getting angry with your mother," Tom said. "It's a waste of time and energy."

"I know," Gwen agreed, "that's why it's so frustrating."

"I keep telling her not to interfere with your life," Tom said, "but she's never listened and I don't think she's going to start any time soon."

"What if I'd hated Arthur?" Gwen asked her mother. "Or of he hated me. Did you ever think of that?"

"You forget that I know you both very well," Felicity said, "and if you'd hated him at first, I'm sure you'd soon have gotten over it. As for Arthur he could never hate you, no one could ever."

"You're unbelievable," Gwen was smiling at her parents' inspite of herself, "has anyone told you that?"

"Not nearly as many times as they should," Felicity said.

"So you really let him follow you around?" Gwen asked.

"Yes," Felicity replied, "like I told you, he's cute."

"And you still let him follow you after he sold those pictures of you?" Gwen didn't know if her mother knew the real reason why Arthur had done that.

"Especially after that," Felicity said, "Arthur's a great guy, and I'm sure he's told you why he did that."

"What makes you so sure about that?"

"If he hadn't," Felicity said, "you wouldn't be dating him."

"So you knew from the get-go why he sold those photos?" Gwen asked.

"No," Felicity shook her head, "but it wasn't hard to find out once I stopped being mad at him."

"I must say he surprised me," Tom said, "I really thought he'd done it for a new car or something like that."

"You also knew?" Gwen turned to her father.

"Not until recently," Tom admitted, "your mother can keep secrets but of course when I found out that your mother thought he was the perfect guy for you she had to tell me everything."

000

"When you asked me if I wanted to see some of your work I didn't think it meant me doing any actual work," Morgana complained, halfheartedly. "I'm sure I've told you how much I hate the outdoors."

Gwaine laughed and reached out and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. "You've told me countless times and I heard you all those times."

"So, what's this then?" Morgana huffed. "Some sort of therapy."

"You don't need therapy," Gwaine smiled, "and believe me you'll appreciate it so much better when you've the done the work."

They were working on the grounds of a big, rambling, half-finished house. Gwaine had already marked out the compound, and Morgana was helping him decide which stones to put where as well which flowers and other plants would be used and where they would be placed.

They worked in silence for a while and then Morgana said, "do you think the owner would mind if we put a fence in the middle here?"

Gwaine turned to face where she was pointing. "Tell me your idea."

"Well," Morgana said, "we would put some poles or even a real wooden fence here, a white fence, and then plant one of those climbing plants over it."

"You want a secret garden, don't you?" Gwaine teased her.

"Well, I've always wanted one, since I read _The Secret Garden_ as a child" she shrugged. "Do you think the owner would mind?" Morgana wasn't ready to tell him, but she was having so much fun working on this property. She hoped she would be involved until it was completed.

"As a matter of fact, I think they'll love it," Gwaine told her. He couldn't tell her now, but soon, he would tell her that they were working on their home.

000

Gwen had spent more of the day at her parents' house. She had discovered that Felicity was quite proud of her matchmaking skills; she had introduced Morgana and Gwaine as well and from what she'd heard they were progressing very well. Felicity had shamelessly told Gwen that she was giving Elyan a break, two days, he'd just returned back home, and then she was going to work her magic on him. Gwen, idly, thought of calling her brother to warn him, but decided against it. He would be fine.

000


	9. Chapter 9

**Thanks for reading and reviewing.**

Gwen wasn't surprised that Morgana wasn't home, seeing one of Gwaine's projects had obviously gone better than she'd expected; she took off her coat and flopped onto the sofa.

She had just gotten comfortable when the doorbell rang.

"What are you doing here?"

Lance shrugged and smiled, tentatively. "I came to explain."

"No."

"Gwen, please," he begged. "I should have done this sooner but instead I run and acted like an idiot."

Gwen didn't barge; she stood in the doorway staring at him.

"Gwen," Lance said. "I know I'm last person you want to see but I need to explain and I think it would be better if I did it inside."

Gwen stepped aside and let him in. She had wondered how she would react if she ever saw Lance again, wondered what he would say but never in her wildest dreams had she imagined that he would say that he wanted to explain.

He made his way to the sitting room but remained standing until Gwen gestured to the sofa and he sat across from her.

"Gwen you remember when we met," he began, "I had a timetable. I needed to find a wife within a certain period of time."

Gwen nodded. He had told her then.

"You were suitable," Lance told her, "you're beautiful, well-spoken, you're loyal, and you care about people and people like you."

She just continued to stare at him in silence.

"I knew it was wrong," he continued, "especially since you obviously … cared for me a great deal."

"You don't have to mince your words," Gwen said, "I loved you. You know I loved you but you obviously didn't feel the same way."

"Sorry," Lance sighed. "Yes, you loved me and somehow I knew even then that I could never love you the way you deserved to be loved."

"So why go through with it then?" Gwen was puzzled.

"What can I say?" he shrugged. "You were suitable, the kind of wife a politician needs and the fact that Mother didn't like you may also have played a part."

"So you used me?"

"I thought that I could grow to love you like you should be loved in time," he shook his head, "that it would work itself out. Marriages have been built on less."

"And Sophia?"

"You can't know how truly sorry I am for that," Lance said, "she was around and you weren't and …it just happened."

"I see."

"I never meant for it to happen," Lance said, "but I'm sort of glad that it did."

"Really?" Gwen's voice could have frozen a lake in the height of summer.

"I know I hurt you," he said, "but it was better that our marriage came to an end before I hurt you any further."

"What exactly are you saying?"

"I love her," Lance said. "I don't know how it happened so quickly, so unexpectedly but I love Sophia Day."

Gwen wondered why Lance's words were not hurting her as much as she thought they would. She had known then on that fateful morning that Lance didn't love her – how could he? He had spent their wedding night with another woman. But she had thought that hearing him tell her that he didn't love her, that he had in fact never loved her would break her. Instead as she looked at him, Gwen could see that she had loved Lance, the Lance that she had created in her mind, the Lance who did not really exist. She had never really loved him; not this Lance sitting across from her.

Even as these thoughts crossed her mind she realised that she loved Arthur. She had been telling herself that she couldn't love him yet, that she needed time but now she knew. She loved Arthur Pendragon.

"…should have told you myself."

She looked at Lance and realised that he'd been speaking and she had barely heard a word he'd said. "What?"

"I should have told you about Sophia," Lance said, "instead I pretended that nothing had happened, that we could still be married and that is the thing that I am most sorry for. I should have done the right thing and told you myself."

She stood up. "I think you should leave."

Lance nodded. "Thank you for letting me …explain."

"Good bye Lance."

000

"You'll never believe who I saw today."

"Weren't you at your parents' house?" Arthur asked her. After seeing his father earlier in the day; he had gone on a shoot. The day had been very long; they would have to go back out early the next morning to finish up. He had called Gwen as soon as had entered the flat.

"Yes I was," Gwen told him. "They send their love."

"I give up," Arthur replied. He was rubbish was guessing games.

"Lance."

"What?" he was hearing things. "Lance was at your parents' house?"

"No," Gwen told him, "he came by the flat to explain."

"Are you okay?" He had been about to pour himself a drink but now he grabbed his keys and ran to his car.

"Arthur?" Gwen said, "are you there?"

"I'm on my way," he replied, "see you in twenty."

"You don't have to come over," Gwen said. "I'm fine. More than fine in fact."

"Good."

Arthur arrived at Gwen's flat in fifteen minutes.

"What did he have to say for himself?" Arthur had hugged Gwen and looked her up and down. She looked fine.

"It turns out that he never loved me," she told him.

"Obviously," Arthur ranted. "If he had he wouldn't have done what he did."

"That was exactly what he said."

"What?" Arthur couldn't believe his ears. "He told you that?"

"Yes."

He pulled out his phone. "I'm calling Percival and Leon."

"What for?"

"To find him and beat him up," Arthur replied. Gwen had learnt that Arthur and his friends, apart from Merlin, were part of a boxing gym. Percival and Leon had won titles in kick-boxing and taekwondo.

"You are not having Lance beaten up," Gwen told him.

"Guinevere," Arthur said patiently, "the man cheated on you on your wedding night and then he had the gall to make it seem like it's on you because he didn't love you. He needs to have some sense knocked into him."

"He's in love with Sophia Day."

"He is?" Arthur was confused. "What has that got to do with anything?"

"Arthur," Gwen repeated. "He's in love with Sophia Day."

Arthur stared at Gwen. He couldn't understand what she was saying. "Who cares who he's in love with?"

"Obviously you haven't heard the stories," Gwen said. "He's going to have his hands full with her. It's enough."

"Are you sure you're fine?" Arthur asked her.

"I'm fine."

Arthur wanted to ask her if Lance had said anything else to her, how his visit had really affected her but instead he pulled her into his arms until she was half-lying against his chest and held her close. She would tell him when she was ready.

"I saw my father today," he said.

"Really?" Gwen had never met Uther Pendragon but she knew that he would never approve of her.

"Yes," Arthur dropped a kiss on her forehead, "he said that you'd bewitched me."

Gwen tried to sit up but his arms held her down. "You're joshing. He didn't say that."

"He did," Arthur smiled, "said there was no way I could love you unless you'd bewitched me with your charms."

"My charms?" Gwen smiled as well, "my charms indeed. What did you tell him?"

"I said and I quote 'I love her charms'."

"You did not."

"No, I did not," Arthur agreed.

"So what did you tell him?" Gwen asked. Arthur was tracing his finger along her arm and then he took one of her hands in his doodling across her palm.

"That he was mistaken of course," Arthur said finally, "that although your parents are world-class actors that you're not as good as they are."

"Really?" Gwen tried to be offended but failed. "You don't think I'm as good an actress as my parents?"

"No."

Gwen laughed softly. "What has that got to with anything?"

"My father suggested that you might be acting," Arthur told her, "pretending to love me."

Gwen didn't know whether to be angry or to laugh.

"Your father really doesn't like me, does he?"

"He doesn't like anybody," Arthur told her.

"And you don't think that that is a problem?"

"Not unless you're a better actress than I thought you were and you're only pretending to be interested in me."

"Not that again," Gwen protested half-heartedly.

000

"Your father actually said the word 'bewitched'?"

"You think I'd make it up?"

She shrugged. "Why would he say such a thing?"

"Because," Arthur replied. "He's an angry bitter man."

They were now sitting side by side on the sofa. Her head was resting on his shoulder.

"Don't you have to get to early very early tomorrow morning?" she asked him, changing the subject.

"I'll call and cancel," Arthur said.

"You don't have to do that," Gwen told him. "If you leave right now you'll be able to get enough rest to make it through the shoot."

"Do you want me to leave?"

"Not particularly," Gwen replied, "but I don't want to be the reason for your not maintaining your stellar work reputation."

"The photos I took today will suffice," Arthur assured her.

"You're not just saying that?"

"If you don't want me here you just have to say the word and I'll leave," Arthur said. "I meant what I said."

"I know you did," Gwen smiled softly. "I know you did."

They sat in silence side by side. Arthur glanced at the clock and was surprised to realise that it was barely 9 o'clock. Still, he wished that he could stay where he was; that he didn't have to leave. He closed his eyes.

Gwen peeped up at Arthur's face. He was lolled back. His breathing was regular – maybe he was asleep – and his eyes were closed. He was probably asleep. She sat up slowly and turned to face him and studied his face. It occurred to her then, that she'd never seen him like this before. He looked so peaceful. His blond lashes slightly longer than she'd thought they were. His lips were slightly parted, as if in readiness for a smile. He had tiny wrinkles near the corner of his eyes.

"Arthur?" she whispered. He was asleep. He didn't stir.

"Arthur?" she whispered again reaching out to touch his chest. This time he stirred. He opened his eyes and smiled sleepily at her.

"Guinevere," he said, "I'm sorry, I didn't just to zone out like that."

"I realised something when Lance was here earlier," she said.

All traces of sleep left Arthur and he stiffened. He was glad that Guinevere was no longer sitting so close to him. He knew that the right thing to do was to ask her what she had realised but he couldn't bring himself to ask her. He knew that she had loved Lance…but he also knew that he wasn't ready to hear her declare her love for him again.

"I loved him," Gwen continued, and Arthur felt his heart constrict. It fell from his chest into his stomach.

"Uhm," he murmured. She was expecting an answer of some sort.

"When he was here today explaining, telling me how sorry he was about the things that had happened," she added. "I realised something."

"Aren't you going to ask me what I realised?" Gwen asked him when he didn't say a word.

"What did you realise?" Arthur whispered. He had promised them that he would wait but now he wasn't so sure he could wait, not if she was still in love with Lance.

"I never really loved him," Gwen smiled softly. "I loved the idea of him, the person that I had made him into. Not who he really was but a person that never really existed."

"Oh?" His stomach lightened.

"I guess you could say that I was in love with the idea of love," she finished. "And not Lance."

"Are you saying what I think you're saying?"

"I don't know," she teased him, "depends on what you think I'm saying."

"Two, no, three words come to mind," Arthur quipped.

"Which ones?"

"Acting, charms and bewitching," Arthur replied promptly.

"What?" Gwen laughed out loud inspite of herself. "Those are the three words that crossed your mind."

He nodded, waiting for her to say what she needed to say.

"I love you, Arthur."

Arthur leaned forward and took her face in his hands. Her eyes closed of their own volition and her heart pounded heavily in her chest. He nuzzled her nose gently with the tip of his and she smiled softly. She knew that they had kissed several times before but somehow she knew that this would be different. She shivered as their mouths joined together and even if her eyes were closed, she knew that he was smiling too. She snaked her hands to his back.

Gwen pulled herself away from Arthur, breathing quickly, she looked up at him and repeated, "I love you Arthur."

"I know."

"You two need to get a room."

Arthur and Gwen broke their gaze from each other and turned to face Morgana who was standing in the doorway looking at them. Gwaine was standing behind her.

"Morgana, I didn't know that you were back," Gwen said.

"Obviously," Morgana teased her.

"This is Gwaine," she pulled him into the room, "that's Arthur."

The two men shook hands.

"I guess I should be leaving," Arthur said. "I have an early start tomorrow."

"You don't have to leave on our account," Gwaine said.

"You're both leaving," Morgana told him.

Gwaine shook his head at her and nodded, "yes, ma'am."

"Good night ladies," Arthur said. And the two men left.

Morgana turned to Gwen. "We have a lot to talk about."

Gwen smiled at her. "You first."

000


	10. Chapter 10

**Thanks for reading and reviewing.**

 **a bit ooc but...**

000

Uther couldn't believe what he was doing. Guinevere Smith didn't deserve even a second of his time but he had made up his mind. He had to see her and tell her about his displeasure face to face.

He had done his research and he had found that while she was not a bad sort and that she had qualities that Uther admired, she still wasn't good enough for Arthur. Arthur deserved the very best.

000

Gwen opened the door and stared at Uther Pendragon in shock. She couldn't believe that he was there at her door.

"Guinevere Smith," Uther told her, "We meet at last."

Gwen let him in and they stood in the tiny hallway staring at each other.

"Arthur's not here," she said at last. _He had surely come looking for his son._

"I know," Uther replied, "I came to see you. We need to talk."

"Okay," Gwen replied. She really didn't want to talk to Uther Pendragon; certainly not now. She had known that at some point she would have to meet him but she had hoped that it would happen when Arthur was present and at some other place – not her home. She wished Morgana was there but her friend was at work and would not be back till evening.

"I won't beat around the bush, Miss Smith." Uther said, following her into the sitting room.

"Gwen, please," she told him.

He ignored her and continued. "I want you out of my son's life, permanently and completely. You have to break off whatever it is that you have with him."

Gwen just stared at him. She couldn't believe her ears.

"You're not the sort of girl that Arthur needs," Uther told her, "there are plenty of other girls more suited to him than you'll ever be."

"And what about what Arthur wants?" Gwen asked him.

"Arthur's young," Uther said, "He doesn't know what he wants."

"I think you're wrong."

"What?" Uther narrowed his eyes at her. Who was she to tell him that he was wrong? What did she know about anything?

"You're wrong," Gwen repeated. "Arthur knows what he wants. And he's not that young." Uther would have laughed if he wasn't so annoyed – Gwen had echoed Arthur's words.

"You're a fool if you think that he's really interested in you," Uther told her. "He's just doing it to spite me and you're only fooling yourself if think that this can lead to anything permanent."

"If you think that Arthur would only date me just to spite you then you don't know your son at all."

"Of course you would say that," Uther retorted. "You think you know him, don't you?"

"I do know him," Gwen said, "I know him well enough to know that he wouldn't just do things to spite you."

Uther sighed. She was right. "He's far too honourable to do that."

"You should be proud of him," Gwen urged him; "he's a good man."

"Of course he is," Uther agreed. "He's a Pendragon." As if that settled the matter.

Gwen laughed causing Uther to eye her sharply.

"He said that you were sharp," Uther said, "and he was right."

"Thank you."

"That wasn't a compliment," Uther told her.

"I know." She smiled.

"I can't understand what he sees in you," Uther said, "sure, you're not unattractive, and you're very hardworking and loyal and kind, from all accounts, but so are plenty of other girls."

"I don't think I'm the right person to be having this conversation with Mr. Pendragon," Gwen said.

"What exactly are you looking for?" Uther asked her.

"What?" Gwen asked him. She must have missed part of the conversation.

"What do you hope to gain from this…liaison with my son?"

"Nothing."

"Don't insult me," Uther told her. "I'm sure you're aware that although Arthur chooses to spend his time taking photographs he's a very rich man."

"I am not interested in his money," Gwen said.

"Sure, your parents are successful at their jobs and I'm sure they have some money squirreled away for you, but you're just a teacher. Being with someone like Arthur is very advantageous for you."

"I told you I am not interested in Arthur's money," Gwen said through clenched teeth.

"You seem to have a thing for rich young men," Uther continued, "first the young Bennington-Jones and now Arthur."

Gwen was through being polite to him. "I think you have said enough Mr. Pendragon."

"Not quite," Uther said.

"I must ask you to leave," Gwen said, and she walked to the front door and opened it.

"This conversation is not over," Uther said. "You'll be hearing from me."

000

Uther was impressed with Guinevere Smith inspite of himself. He had heard that she was soft-spoken and he had thought that he could easily bully her but he was sort of… glad that she had a spine. She had stood up to him and when he had insulted her she had told him to leave her house.

Maybe he had been wrong about her; maybe she was sort of girl Arthur needed. She had refused to become an actor even though the rest of her family was in the business and from his checks into her work; he had found that she was very good at what she did. From all accounts, it seemed that Arthur was getting the better end of the stick.

Uther didn't like to admit it but he liked people who stood up to him, they irritated him and if he could he would have them all locked up in some sort of prison, but he couldn't deny that he liked and respected them. He knew that was intimidating and that it was very easy for him to make people cower in his presence so he was always impressed when he found someone who didn't.

Still, it would have been better if Arthur had found a girl who came from the same social standing as the Pendragons. He knew it was archaic to think of such things and worse still to voice them, but such things never changed and no matter what people said, coming from a good family still meant something and always would.

He would keep a closer watch on Guinevere Smith and see how things progressed between her and Arthur. Who knew, maybe he was getting ahead of himself, maybe they would break up the very next day and all his worrying about Arthur sullying the Pendragon name would be for nothing.

000

"So, when is he taking you to meet the king?"

"What?" Gwen turned to her friend.

"When are you meeting Uther Pendragon?" Morgana asked. "I heard that getting his approval is like getting a royal seal."

"Really?" Gwen hadn't yet told anyone about her surprise visitor.

"I hear he doesn't like anybody," Morgana said. "But I think he'll make an exception in your case."

"I doubt it."

"Gwen, you're great," Morgana said, "any parent, even Uther Pendragon, would be glad to have you in their family."

"You don't think that having been jilted recently would make unsuitable?"

"First of all, you weren't jilted, not really," Morgana said, "secondly, that's old news. So last year, month… whatever."

"Thank you."

"Are you worried about meeting Uther?" Morgana asked Gwen. Her friend seemed to be giving the matter a lot of thought.

"No," Gwen replied truthfully. She wasn't worried about meeting Uther again.

"Because," Morgana said, "he's just a man."

"Yes he is," Gwen agreed. Uther Pendragon was just a man.

000


	11. Chapter 11

**Thanks for reading and reviewing.**

Arthur and Guinevere were dancing, slowly, her head on his chest. They were at _Leon's_ celebrating the fact that Percival had just landed a major contract.

The song changed from a slow number to an upbeat one but they didn't stop swaying slowly on the dance floor, from time to time, she would lift her head and stare at him, and Arthur would smile down at her. Guinevere hadn't been this happy in years.

His arms tightened around her and they both understood, without saying a word; that they had come to a turning point in their relationship.

She wasn't worried; she loved and trusted Arthur, although she had yet to tell him that but after all the months they had been together she was finally ready to take the next step.

000

"Artie."

Arthur and Guinevere stopped. They were just outside _Leon's_ , having decided to walk to Arthur's flat. It wasn't very near but they both wanted to take a night stroll.

"Come, is this how you greet an old friend?" the young woman asked. She was tall striking blonde woman. She was wearing a navy blue jumpsuit and she looked good.

"Adrienne," Arthur said. "I didn't know you were back in town."

"You mean you didn't want to know," she laughed. A loud trilling sound that got on Gwen's nerves.

"How have you been?" Arthur asked.

"Artie," she laughed again. "So this must the new girl I've heard so much about."

Gwen smiled tightly at her.

"I would warn you to be on your guard," Adrienne told Gwen, "but I don't think you need any help from me. You managed to get Lance to the altar; although we all know how long that lasted."

"Adrienne," Arthur said. He tone was cold and hard.

"What?" Adrienne laughed again. "Does she need you to protect her from the likes of me? To fight all her battles?"

"No," both Arthur and Gwen said.

"I don't need anyone to do that for me." Gwen added. She would have walked off but Arthur's hold on her had tightened.

"No," Adrienne looked her up and down, "I don't believe you need anyone to do that." Her tone was so insulting both Arthur and Gwen felt like slapping her. Well, Gwen wanted to slap her but Arthur only kept from slugging her because he knew about her condition.

"Adrienne," Arthur spoke again. "It was nice running into you. Enjoy the rest of your evening."

"You won't get rid of me that easily," Adrienne said. "I came here to say something and I won't leave until I've said it."

"Fine," Gwen said, "just say it already."

"You'll never fit into the family," Adrienne said, "you know it and I know it. So just drop this whole charade and go back to your arty types."

"Arty types?" Gwen smiled.

"You know what I mean," Adrienne replied. "Arthur may be playing at being photographer but we all know that that's not his place. Not really."

"Adrienne, go away, before you embarrass yourself any further," Arthur said.

"Embarrass myself?" Adrienne asked. "You're the one who is embarrassing yourself. You know that this can never go anywhere."

"Go back to Helios," Arthur told her. "Go back before he begins to think that he made a mistake."

Gwen was surprised to see Adrienne's eyes begin to water.

"I love Guinevere," Arthur added, "and if it were up to me we'd be married already or get married tomorrow."

"You really love her?" Adrienne asked.

"Yes," Arthur replied. "I really do."

"Why couldn't you love me?" Adrienne asked. "Why doesn't anyone love me?"

"Helios loves you," Arthur told her.

"He says he does," Adrienne agreed. "But how do I know that he's not just saying it?" That last question was aimed at Gwen.

"If Arthur says he loves you, then I'm sure he does," Gwen told her gently. She couldn't believe that this was the same woman who had been sneering at her a few minutes ago.

"Thank you Gwen," Adrienne said. "Uther said that you were a good sort, not what he'd thought you'd be."

"He did?" Both Arthur and Gwen were shocked.

A blue Range Rover pulled up infront of them and a man got out. "Addy, dear, there you are. I was so worried."

"Helios," Arthur turned to him.

"Thank you, Arthur," Helios said, "I came here as soon as I heard that Addy was coming to see you." He took Adrienne into his arms and hugged her close, whispering softly to her.

Arthur and Helios had sort of grown up together – their fathers were colleagues which had meant that they spent many a holiday together when they fathers were working. Helios had followed in his father's footsteps and he was now a partner in their law firm.

"She's fine," Arthur said.

"Was she very rude?" Helios asked. "She was sort of…put out when she heard that you were dating."

"She wasn't too rude," Gwen assured him.

"Thank you," Helios smiled at them both and helped Adrienne into the car.

They watched the car drive away in silence.

"What's wrong with her?" Guinevere asked.

"We're not really sure," Arthur replied. "Her father never let her get tested properly but she has some sort of bipolar disorder."

"The poor girl," Gwen sympathised. "It must be hard."

"Very," Arthur agreed. "There was a time when she convinced herself that she was in love with me."

"Oh you poor you," Gwen teased him. "Having a beautiful girl think she's in love with you, it must have been very bad."

"It was crazy," Arthur insisted. "She never wanted to let me out of her sight."

"What happened?"

"She met Helios," Arthur shrugged, "and decided that she loved him and not me."

"And?"

"Quite surprisingly, Helios loves her," Arthur said.

"So, you and Helios?" Gwen asked. "I sense…something."

"I'll tell you about it another time," Arthur said. "Helios and Adrienne have taken up enough of our evening already."

"Okay," Gwen agreed, "but you do think she was right about your father?"

"What?"

"About him saying that I am a good sort."

"It doesn't matter what my father thinks," Arthur assured her. "He's not the one who wants to marry you and I'm not going anywhere."

"He came by the other day," Gwen told him. She had been debating with herself about whether to tell him or not.

"Came by where? When? Why didn't you tell me?"

"I don't know why I didn't tell you," Gwen admitted.

"What did he want?" Arthur asked her.

"I guess he wanted to see for himself the woman his son is spending with," Gwen said. "He wasn't that bad," she added in answer to his unspoken question.

"He wasn't that bad?" Arthur repeated. "What did he say?"

"Nothing that I've not already heard," Gwen said. "But I think we came to some sort of understanding."

"What sort of understanding?"

"That we'll probably never see eye-to-eye on many issues or even agree at all," she smiled widely at each other, "but we both love you and want what's best for you."

"Do you think he realises that you are what's best for me?"

"Oh, I don't know, I don't know if even _you_ realise it as well," she teased him, "but I'm sure you'll both find out soon enough."

000

Guinevere woke up slowly and opened her eyes. She wondered for a few seconds where she was and then it came back to her. _Leon's_ , meeting Adrienne and finally ending up at Arthur's flat.

She had fallen asleep.

One minute, they had been kissing and then he'd gone to the bathroom and that was the last thing she remembered.

"Good morning, Guinevere."

Arthur was standing in the doorway eyeing her lazily.

"Arthur, I'm so sorry about last night."

"As long as that doesn't happen every time, it's fine."

"I promise to stay awake for every second next time."

"I'll hold you to that."

A loud banging coming from the kitchen interrupted them.

"Sorry," Merlin said, as he walked towards Arthur's room, "I hope I didn't interrupt anything."

"Of course you did," Arthur replied, "as was your intention."

"I had to make sure you were fully dressed," Merlin said cheekily, "unlike that other time when-"

"You'll stop talking if you value your life," Arthur threatened him half-heartedly. "Don't forget that I have more dirt on you than you have on me."

"But you forget," Merlin laughed, "Gwen isn't interested in hearing about me."

"Don't be too sure," Gwen said. "I want to hear all the stories."

"Don't worry," Merlin whispered loudly, "I'll tell you all the stories you need to know."

"Thank you Merlin," Gwen said.

"What did you want Merlin?" Arthur asked his friend. "Surely there was a reason for your interruption."

Merlin smiled at his friend. "Uh…no, nothing actually."

Arthur glared at his friend.

000


	12. Chapter 12

**Thanks for reading and reviewing.**

"Gwen," Leon put down the wine bottles he was carrying and walked towards her. He smiled at her. "What are you doing here?"

Gwen narrowed her eyes at him. "What? I can't just stop by a friend's place?"

"No, no, of course not," Leon told her, "it's just that…"

"I never come here without Arthur or when it's not night time," Gwen finished for him. "Fine, I came to see Merlin, he told me that he would be here right about now."

"Yes," Leon agreed, "he's usually here at this time but he must be running late; let me get you a drink."

He led her to a table and got her lemonade.

She had called Merlin earlier in the day and asked to meet with him. He had been quite suspicious of her request which had got her thinking all sorts of things. Maybe he hadn't been joking when he'd said he had many stories to tell about Arthur. Gwen imagined that most of them involved girls and why not, she told herself, Arthur was a very attractive man on top of being one of the most decent men she'd ever met so of course he would have had plenty of girlfriends, still she wasn't quite sure if she was ready to hear about any of them.

 _Stop it!_ She told herself. It wasn't as if she was meeting Merlin to talk about Arthur's love life; she had just found out that his birthday was coming up in a few weeks and she wanted to surprise him, getting more information was just an added bonus.

She had never really hang out with Arthur's friends –alone – before so of course she was a bit nervous. She thought of asking Leon to join her; the place wasn't that busy and she was sure he could afford to spend some time with her but she didn't want to impose. In fact the more she thought about it the more she wondered why she'd even agreed to meet Merlin there in the first place.

Merlin entered holding so many bags it was a wonder he was able to walk upright. He smiled widely when he spotted her.

"Sorry," he said, "I got held up but luckily I was finally able to escape."

"That's fine," Gwen replied, "I haven't been here long myself."

"Good," he went behind the counter and put away his bags and came back to join her. "I wouldn't want you to think that I can't keep time or anything like that."

"Why would I think that?"

He shrugged. "Who knows why, right?"

"This is a very strange conversation," she said.

"Yeah," he nodded gravely. "We better change it then. So, what exactly do you want to know?"

"What?" she must have missed something.

"How many girlfriends he's had? Who he's really been into? The number of times I've had to save him from himself?"

Gwen stared at him. Merlin seemed to be in earnest. He stopped talking and looked at her and then his face broke out into a wide grin. "Got you."

Gwen laughed with him and agreed, "Yes you did."

"So, how can I help you?" Merlin asked.

"It's about Arthur's birthday, actually," she said, "I wanted to do something special for him."

000

"They have a difficult relationship," Leon said. He had joined Gwen and Merlin at their table and the three of them were now eating. Merlin and Gwen had finished their discussion about Arthur's birthday and Gwen had been convinced to change her plans – not that she'd really had any – and instead spend the afternoon with them.

"Who doesn't have a difficult relationship with their parents?" Merlin asked.

"You don't," Leon said promptly. "Hunith's great."

"Okay, fine," Merlin conceded. "Some of us are lucky enough to get on with our parents."

Gwen nodded in agreement. Apart from her exasperation with her parents' very intimate relationship with the press, they had a pretty good relationship.

"Uther's a bully," Merlin said. "And he always wants to make people do what he wants, when he wants."

"Yes," Leon agreed, "just think of it this way, if Uther were the king then his rule would be very harsh."

"But he loves Arthur, there's no doubt about that," Gwen said. She had spent a few minutes with Uther but she could tell that his son was very important to him.

"Of course he loves him," Leon said. "Which is what makes it hard for Arthur."

Merlin nodded. "He wants Arthur to be like him, to follow in his footsteps."

"Doesn't every parent?"

"Maybe," Merlin shrugged, "but others would pretend that the children had some sort of choice."

"Arthur was able to get out from under Uther," Gwen said.

"Yes, yes he was," Merlin said. "Thanks to you."

"I think you give me too much credit," Gwen half-protested. "We met only a few months ago and by then he was already doing this own thing."

"That's not entirely true," Merlin said.

"Merlin, what are you talking about?"

"Merlin, maybe you've had a bit too much to drink."

Leon and Gwen spoke at the same time. They glanced at each other and then looked at Merlin, who looked a bit embarrassed, swallowed quickly and nodded.

"I have no idea what I'm talking and I've obviously had a bit too much to drink."

"No, you haven't," Gwen protested. "Merlin, please, just tell me, what are you talking about?"

"I'm sorry," Merlin told her, "I shouldn't have said anything, especially about things I know nothing about and which are obviously none of my business."

000

Morgana closed her laptop and smiled at Gwaine who had been watching her silently for the last ten minutes.

"Let's get married."

Morgana stiffened and refused to look up at him. She had probably misheard. He couldn't be talking about marriage. Not now.

"What?"

Gwaine shook his head and laughed. "Did I say married? I meant let's get going. Let us go."

"Right," Morgana looked at him and smiled slightly. Obviously he wasn't talking about marriage. It was just a slip of the tongue. Whatever. Not a marriage proposal. She knew that she loved this man but they were not yet at the stage in their relationship where they could think let alone talk about marriage.

Gwaine couldn't believe he had asked said the words aloud. On the other hand, who was he kidding? He had been thinking about marrying Morgana since Felicity had pointed her out to him at Gwen's wedding. Obviously he didn't believe in love at first sight, there was no such thing, but he had been drawn to her and spending all this time with her had only made the feelings stronger.

"Are you sure this is fine?" Morgana asked him.

"My mother won't mind," Gwaine assured her. "She just wants to meet the girl I'm spending all my time with and Kayla will be begging for an outfit like yours."

"You could have told me earlier that we were going to meet your mom, you know," Morgana said, "instead of just dropping it on me."

They had met at the house earlier that day; the plan being to work on the grotto- they had added one; Morgana had had some work to finish up which is why she'd been working on her laptop but Gwaine had received a call from his mother inviting them for lunch and they had changed their plans, of course.

"I'm wearing work overalls over tiny shorts and a sleeveless T," Morgana said. "I'll probably not make a very good impression."

"Since when do you care about making a good impression?" Gwaine teased her.

"I always care about making a good impression," Morgana assured him. She would have added something about the M word but she didn't. She was afraid. What if Gwaine had been serious? What if he'd really meant the words he'd said? What was really scaring her though was …what if he'd really be joking and saying let's get married had been a joke? She knew he liked to joke but also knew that he was one of the most earnest men she'd ever met and that he'd never make a joke about marriage.

"Mom will love you," Gwaine said. He wanted to add that he loved her as well but wisely kept silent. This wasn't the time and place to discuss their future.

000

"Is it weird for me to tell you that I think you're great?"

Morgana turned to Kayla and smiled. "No, not at all. I think you're great too."

Kayla had invited Morgana outside to see her tree house.

"My friends think its lame," Kayla said, "having a tree house but I like it very much. It's my own personal space. I mean, I have my room and all, and it's a pretty nice room but I like this tree house. Gwaine built it for when I was little and I've added to it over the years."

Morgana looked around the room and nodded. It was pretty impressive; clearly Kayla was as good as her brother at creating beautiful things.

"Actually, Gwaine didn't really build it," Kayla added, "Dad built it for him and I begged and cried until Gwaine said it was mine."

"That sounds like something I would totally do, too," Morgana said, "this place is great and it has no business belonging to a boy."

"That was my argument as well," Kayla said. "You know you're so much better than Linda."

"Linda?"

"Gwaine's ex," Kayla said. "I know I shouldn't really say this and Mom told me to stay out of his business and whatever but …anyway she was such a nightmare."

Morgana nodded. She couldn't think of anything to say to that.

"She didn't like me, said that I should act my age, whatever that meant, anyway I like you."

"Thank you."

"And Gwaine likes you too," Kayla added. "He wouldn't have brought you home if he didn't."

"I see."

"Linda sort of invited herself here all the time," Kayla said, "like anyone wanted to know her."

"So you really don't like Linda," Morgana ventured.

Kayla nodded and having got her point across proceeded to show Morgana her photographs. She was 'so into' photographs, her own words, and she intended to become a photographer and an interior designer.

000

Gwaine's mother, Irene, looked at her son who was staring out of the window at Kayla and Morgana. She put down the cloth she'd been using to wipe the dishes and touched his shoulder lightly.

"You really like this one, don't you?"

"Yeah," he sighed. "I really do."

"So do I," Irene said, "and Kayla does as well. You know she never shows the tree house to just anyone."

Gwaine nodded.

"What seems to be the problem?" his mother asked. "Is it the fact that she was sort of chosen for you as it were?" Irene had heard all about Felicity's matchmaking. She had found it very funny.

"No, no," Gwaine smiled. "That's not a problem at all. In fact I'm rather glad that Felicity was her usual interfering self."

"Then what is it?"

"I may have sort of proposed earlier today," he admitted.

"That's great," Irene hugged him. "Why didn't you say something earlier? I take it she said yes?"

"Slow down, mom, I didn't actually propose," Gwaine told her. "I blurted out 'let's get married' instead of 'let's get going'."

"And what did she say?"

"Nothing."

"Nothing?" Irene was puzzled. "Not even an 'are you serious?' or 'what did you say?' Nothing?"

"She said 'what?' and I took back the whole thing and we dropped it."

Irene laughed. It was strange to see her usually over-confident son being uncertain of anything but it was also very good to see that Morgana wasn't making things easy for him. If Gwaine had made such a remark to Linda, their engagement announcement would already be running in the Gazette.

"She wouldn't have agreed to meet us if she wasn't serious about the relationship," she assured her son.

"That's what I've been telling myself the whole day," he sighed again. "What if I'm wrong?"

"I don't think you're wrong," Irene smiled at him, "but let's wait and see."

000

Elyan got out of his car and made his way to Arthur's office. He had been waiting for Arthur to return for about fifteen minutes and even after he'd seen Arthur enter the building, he had waited a further fifteen minutes before going in.

It was crazy but he'd got Arthur's schedule from his mom and while he sort of understood their strange relationship he couldn't figure out why Felicity seems to know so much about Arthur's work. His parents were over the moon about Gwen and Arthur's relationship but Elyan wasn't too sure about it – granted Arthur wasn't the creep they'd all thought he was; Felicity had taken care to explain about the photos and everything, but still, Elyan didn't see how that made Arthur the best candidate for Gwen's happiness. It was only a few months ago that Gwen had married Lance and Elyan wasn't quite sure if his sister was emotionally ready to handle another major relationship and the way their mom told it, their wedding was sure to happen before the year was out.

So, he had decided that he would do the brotherly thing; he would talk to Arthur and find out if his intentions towards his big sister were as honourable as their parents made them seem. He knew that he Gwen would have his head when she heard but she would understand that he was looking out for her; something he hadn't done when she dating Lance.

Arthur was proofing some photos when he looked up and saw Elyan standing in the doorway. Of course he knew who he was but they had never exchanged more than a few words before. He closed his laptop and stood up.

"Elyan, how are you? What are you doing here?"

"I came to see you, to talk."

"Okay." Arthur was worried. "Is Guinevere fine?"

"Yes she is," Elyan told him.

Arthur took a deep breath and waited.

"I want to ask you about your relationship with my sister. I have heard things about you," at Arthur's questioning look he added, "not …bad things. But things … that made me worry."

"What sort of things?"

"That your father would rescind your inheritance if you didn't marry into the right kind of family and also that your father has some issue with Gwen because we are actors."

"Who told you these things?"

"That isn't the issue," Elyan sidestepped the question, "are they true?"

"What if they are?" Arthur countered.

"I'm asking if you have really thought this through," Elyan told him, "if you have considered what you will lose if you continue this relationship."

"Are you trying to make me break up with Guinevere?"

"No," Elyan replied, "but I want to know if you have thought things through or if down the line you will decide that granddaddy's money is more important than my sister."

"Elyan, I love your sister," Arthur declared, "and the only way Guinevere can get rid of me is by telling me to my face that she doesn't love me and never wants to see me again."

"Good," Elyan smiled for the first since entering the room. "I ought to tell you that I was quite ready to knock your teeth out if you had done or said anything to suggest that you didn't love my sister."

"That's fair I guess," Arthur said. "What say you, we get to know each other better over a drink or something?"

"Sounds good," Elyan said. "Your photographs are very good, by the way."

"Thank you."


	13. Chapter 13

**Thanks for reading and reviewing.**

Merlin leaned back in his chair and watched the group that was making noise in one corner of the club and shook his head. He didn't know how he knew it but he was sure that they would be friends for life.

Arthur and Elyan had wandered into _Leon's_ late that afternoon and joined him and Gwen who were still talking. Gwen had been a bit surprised to see her brother with Arthur but she hadn't yet had a chance to talk to him alone. Percival had been the next to arrive and join the group and then Morgana had called her friend, she needed to talk to her urgently, and Gwen had asked Morgana and Gwaine to join them.

That was how the eight of them ended up hijacking one of the corners of _Leon's,_ wondering how it was that they had never met until only a few months' ago.

"You definitely have to attend the dinner," Merlin rejoined the conversation.

"I thought you said it was for staff only," Gwaine reminded him.

"I can take a plus one along," Merlin told him.

"We're a bit more than one," Elyan said.

"Yeah," Merlin agreed, "but they won't notice."

"More likely they won't care," Arthur countered. "It will be nice a change to having empty seats."

"The seats are always filled," Merlin said, "but you don't have to come along if don't want to."

"Who said anything about not attending?" Percival asked. "We will be there Merlin. Count on it."

"What's the dinner for anyway?" Morgana asked.

"Merlin's getting an award or certificate or something equally boring," Arthur teased his friend.

"Then we will definitely be there," Gwen said. "All of us."

"Is she ordering us around already?" Leon asked.

"Yes I am," Gwen replied.

"I knew this would happen," Percival said.

"What would?"

"You blokes will let girls in," Percival smiled slowly, "and then they'll start bossing us around."

"Are you saying I'm bossy?" Gwen asked him.

"I wouldn't answer that if I was you," Elyan told him.

Percival turned and looked at Gwen as if sizing her up. "I'm not afraid of her. Look at her. What can she do to me?"

"You're going to wish you hadn't said that," Elyan said. "Gwen is going to make you pay for it."

"Really?" Gwaine looked at Gwen intently. "How?"

"Gwaine, not you too," Elyan said. "I would seriously advise you to stop because Morgana is worse than Gwen."

"They're just two little girls," Gwaine said.

"Don't say I didn't warn you."

"Do you realise that all the wise men at this table are keeping their mouths shut?" Merlin asked.

"Yes, they are," Percival agreed. "And it's good to know that you're not one of them."

"I'll have you know that I'm the wisest man you'll ever have the good fortune to meet," Merlin replied.

"Please, not again," Leon said.

"What?" Merlin shrugged. "I'm brilliant. What can I say?"

"Does he do that thing like Holmes with Watson?" Elyan asked, intrigued.

"He's worse," Percival replied. "Holmes has nothing on him."

000

"Did Elyan really come by your office today?" Gwen asked Arthur.

The party in _Leon's_ had finally broken up when they remembered that they had to work the next day.

"Yes."

"He warned you against breaking my heart, didn't he?" she asked. "I'm going to kill him."

"I thought it was very thoughtful of him, actually," Arthur said. "Looking out for you and all."

"I'm older than he is."

"Does that matter?" he asked lazily.

"Of course it does," Gwen said, "I can look after myself."

"But it's good to know that you have people to rely on, isn't it?"

"That doesn't make it any less annoying," Gwen said.

"I like Elyan," Arthur told her.

"I knew you two would get on like a house on fire," Gwen told her.

Arthur nodded thinking about the new friends he'd made that day. It was weird but sitting with Elyan, Gwaine, Morgana and Gwen as well as his other friends Merlin, Leon and Percival had been like coming full circle, like they had finally reached a place they were always meant to be at. He couldn't understand why.

"Can I ask you something?" Gwen's voice broke into his thoughts.

"Sure."  
"Merlin said something…" she stopped and looked at Arthur who was waiting for her to ask her question. "I don't know, maybe I shouldn't…forget I asked."

"What do you want to know?" Arthur asked her.

"Nothing," she told him.

"What did Merlin say?"

She didn't respond. Why had she even begun this whole thing in the first place?

"Guinevere, what did Merlin say?"

She took a deep breath. "We were talking earlier, with Merlin and Leon and somehow the conversation turned to parents and then to you and your father."

"And?" he prompted her.

"Merlin may have made it seem that I had…something to do with your decision not to follow your father in the family business… I know it's not true. I mean, how can it be true? We only met a few months ago and you were a photographer by then."

"I see."

None of them said anything for a while and then Gwen spoke.

"Is it true?"

"Is what true?"

"Arthur, you're really going to make me ask the question?"

"Yes, love, I am," he replied. "I can't answer unless I know the question you're really asking."

"Fine, did I have anything to do with your decision not to follow in your father's footsteps?"

"Yes."

"How?" she was puzzled. "We had never really spoken until the wedding."

"Did you remember how I started? Of course you don't." He had hoped that he would never have to talk about these things, especially with her. He wondered why he had even ever told Merlin. "I was following your mother around, trying to get the photo that would get me into the big time."

"Yes," Gwen nodded. "Mum told me about that."

"Anyway, one day I was following Felicity around, you and Elyan were with her and as I hid behind some flower bushes waiting to get a clean shot of her I may have … overheard a conversation."

"What did you hear?"

"A woman, you called her Aunt Bea came up to you, Felicity had just left the table, and she said that it was high time you joined the family business and went to drama school, from what I gathered Elyan had already joined but you were stalling and were instead thinking of not acting at all, which she said would be such a scandal.

You told her that you believed everyone had a right to choose their own path to happiness, that because your parents were great actors didn't mean that you were called to be an actor too and more so that there was no guarantee that you would be as good as they were."

"Really?" Gwen was incredulous. "I don't remember saying those words to Aunt Bea. No wonder she says I'm opinionated."

"Felicity returned with Tom and she repeated what you had told," Arthur continued. "And your father told her that he was proud of you no matter what you chose to do and that he certainly wasn't going to force you to become an actor. He also added that he thought it was very brave of you do go against their wishes in order to do what you thought was best for you."

"And that made you change your major? Really?"

"I had already changed my major," Arthur told her, "I just hadn't told my father."

"I really can't believe this," Gwen said.

"You were young and you knew what you wanted…okay … what you didn't want and you weren't afraid to choose your own path. I admired that and it challenged me to also do that in my own life."

"How good am I?" Gwen teased him.

"I can honestly say that you're one of the best things that ever happened to me."

"One of the best?"

"I'm leaving room for the future," Arthur said. "But if it's any consolation I'm confident that they'll all have something to do with you."

"Good save." Gwen told him. "But I think you were just ready to make that change. You could have heard anyone speak that day and that would have pushed you into action."

"I don't think so," Arthur denied. "It was you whether you want the credit or not."

"I think it was my dad being supportive of me," Gwen said.

"Of course you can analyse what I've said however you want but I'm sticking to my story," Arthur told her, "and it's the story that I'm going to tell our children and grandchildren."

"I'm going to pretend that you didn't say those words, for now," Gwen told him, "and get back to the story. Is that when Mum discovered you and you made that deal?"

"No," he shook his head, "that happened a few weeks later. After hearing those life-changing words I told Merlin who encouraged me to tell my father what I intended to do. I'm ashamed to say it took me a while to garner the courage to do so and it was actually on the day that I told him that I met Felicity for the first time."

"Maybe I deserve a medal of something?"

"Didn't you just say it wasn't you?"

"I did," Gwen agreed, "but I've changed my mind. It was me, the genius teenager and I deserve a medal for it."

"I'll get you one."

"What exactly did Elyan say to you?" she changed the subject.

"Does it matter?"

"I wouldn't ask you if it didn't," Gwen replied.

"He had some concerns about my inheritance," Arthur said.

"What? That you couldn't get it soon enough?" Gwen teased him. "Like that's any of his business. I hope you told him to mind his own business and get an inheritance of his own to worry about."

"He was concerned that my inability to get it might make me change my mind about being with you," Arthur told her quietly.

Gwen had suspected as much and she didn't know if she was quite ready to hear what Arthur had told her brother. She wasn't sure she was ready for Arthur to be willing to give up what was his by rights because of her.

"Don't you want to know what I told him?" Arthur prodded her gently. "What I'm going to tell whoever's asking?"

"No. Not really."

"Good," Arthur told her, "But I'm going to tell you anyway. I love you Guinevere Smith and I will stay with you until you tell me that you don't want to see me again; even then, I don't know if I will leave you. If my father wants to keep grandpa's money then that it his choice, I don't care about it. I only care about you."

"Arthur, think about what you're saying," Gwen begged him.

"I have thought about it."

"Then maybe you ought to think again," Gwen told him, "I don't think you're thinking rationally. You can't give up your inheritance. I can't let you do that for me."

"I'm not doing it for you," Arthur said. "I'm doing it for me."

"Because you're with me," Gwen reminded him. "If you were a lawyer or better yet with a woman your father approved of this issue would never arise."

"We shouldn't even be discussing this now," Arthur told her, "I still have three years until I turn 35."

"So you think it should be discussed after you turn 35?"

"I think we're giving the money issue more importance than it deems," he said.

"You don't think it's important to talk about finances?"

"That is not what is said or meant," Arthur told her, "we shouldn't be discussing my grandfather's money and my father's control of it."

Gwen nodded. "I have to go."

"What? Why?" he couldn't understand what was happening.

"I need to rest," Gwen told him, "it's been a long day."

"Guinevere, please," he said, "this is crazy, we can't seriously be having an argument about money that isn't even mine."

"But it should be yours," Gwen reminded. "And your children's and grandchildren's."

"What would you have me do?" Arthur asked her. "Become a lawyer or dump you for money I don't even want or need?"

"This isn't about the money," Gwen told him, "and if you can't see that then I have nothing more to say to you."

He watched in silence as Gwen picked up her things and walked out of the house. He really didn't know what had happened; why she felt so strongly about the money that they didn't need.

000

"What exactly did she say?" Merlin asked his friend.

"I told you," Arthur said, wearily, "That it wasn't about the money and if I couldn't see that then she had nothing more to say to me."

"And you just let her leave?"

"She was tired and it wasn't like I could force her to stay against her will," Arthur pointed out. "I thought of calling her but I decided to give her some time."

"She's right, you know," Merlin said.

"About what?"

"You shouldn't let Uther run your life like that," Merlin told him.

"You want me to talk to my father about grandfather's will?"

"What I want and what I believe Gwen wants is for you to take charge of your life," Merlin said. "To tell your father to stop holding your money over your head and accept the fact that this is the life you've chosen and that he has no say in it."

"You know how many times I've had _that_ talk with my father?"

"Too many," Merlin replied, "but you should tell him again that he should stop interfering and let you live your life."

"Maybe I'm tired of talking to my father," Arthur said. "Maybe I should just stop talking to him period."

"You can't do that," Merlin reminded him, "you appreciate your father's weaknesses but you love him too well to just let him go out of your life like that. Although now that I think of it I'm surprised hasn't talked to Gwen about not being right for you."

Merlin took in Arthur's expression and asked. "When did he talk to her?"

"A while back," Arthur said, "and she took it surprisingly well."

"Call her. Call her now."

000

"Gwaine proposed," Gwen hugged her friend, "that's great news."

"He did not propose," Morgana told her. "He said 'let's get married.' And he took the words back immediately."

"So, you scared him," Gwen said, "he had to take back his words but he's definitely thinking about getting married to you."

"I doubt it," Morgana told her, "you should have seen his face; he was terrified."

"Probably because he knew that he had scared you by being too forward."

"Why are taking his side?"

"He loves you and wants to marry and you also want it too, you're just a bit scared," Gwen smiled, "why wouldn't I be on his side?"

"Enough about me," Morgana said, "What are you going to do?"

"Nothing."

"Really?"

"Arthur needs to sort out things with his father," Gwen said, "I need to let him to that without thinking that he has to do that for me."

Morgana nodded. She could understand what her friend was saying and she hoped that Arthur could too.

000

Gwen saw Arthur's photo flash across the screen and thought of not picking up and after ten rings she decided to talk to him.

"Hey," she said.

"Hey."

000

hope it's not too out there


	14. Chapter 14

Gwen was angry at herself. She couldn't believe she'd acted like that with Arthur – true she wanted him to be free of his father, to do his own thing without apologies because he was really good at what he did and even Uther knew it. Instead, she'd started a fight and worse, she'd left in a hussy fit when Arthur hadn't immediately got what she was thinking.

 _Come on girl_ , she berated herself. _How was he supposed to know what you were thinking?_ She should have just explained exactly what she meant; instead they'd had their first fight moreover about money of all things.

The thing that was really annoying Gwen though was that she was being hypocritical. When everyone had told her to examine her relationship with Lance, when she had seen things and even known that she really liked him but didn't want to be married to him forever, she'd ignored them and hoped and prayed that they would pass and now here she was telling Arthur to stand up to his father again until Uther stopped interfering and threatening him.

She had no right.

True, she'd resisted when everyone was telling her that she should follow in the footsteps of her parents and she'd not been quiet about it but she was ashamed to admit and she'd never told anyone but she'd auditioned once for a school play – for a tiny part with only two lines but she'd frozen and been unable to remember them and after that she had told herself that acting wasn't for her blood or not and she was okay was it.

Arthur cleared loved his father and he would do anything for him and that was one of the things that Gwen loved about him; what she hated though was the fact that because of Arthur's love for Uther he let himself be pushed into situations that he didn't like. Like dating all those girls because they were suitable and appropriate.

What they did about Arthur's money was none of her concern but she didn't like was the way Uther felt he needed to bring it up to control his son and make him do what he wanted. Arthur needed to tell his father to butt out and let him be.

She had told Arthur as much when they'd spoken on the phone and she'd apologised for acting like such a girl at which Arthur had laughing saying it was okay since she was in fact a girl. She had told him her frustrations and especially how she didn't want him to have to give up his birthright because of her.

"It's not because of you," Arthur had assured her. "It's my dad, he wants to control some part of my life and since that is about the only part he can control he takes great pleasure in doing it."

"You shouldn't let him."

"I know," Arthur agreed. "But it's easier trust me."

"It may be easier," she said, "but it's not good for you."

"I know," Arthur said, "it's also very annoying. I'm not a child anymore."

"Maybe you should remind him of that fact," Gwen suggested.

000

Uther stared at his son in reluctant admiration. They'd had this conversation many times before but this was the first time that Uther was hearing real conviction in his son's voice.

"I've had enough of this," Arthur said. "Believe me father, I don't want to do this but if you don't stop interfering in my life then you and I will be done for good and you will never see me again."

"Fine."

"And if you ever tell Guinevere that she's not good enough for me we will do m-," he stopped his father's words finally getting through to him. "Okay, then."

"I quite like her," Uther admitted.

"Father, stop," Arthur begged him. "You don't need to do this."

"I'm not doing anything," Uther protested, "aside from telling you the truth."  
Arthur looked at his father and he could see that Uther was serious; not that he could really recall a time when his father had ever joked or said anything he had not meant.

"Good," Arthur said, "that's good because I'm going to marry her."

000

Gwen leaned against Arthur's chest as the music swirled around them. She could not remember when she had last had such a wonderful evening. Dinner had been perfect. They had gone to a little Italian restaurant that one of Arthur's clients had told him about. The food had been wonderful, but it wasn't the food she was remembering now. Instead, it was the memory of Arthur sitting across the table from her, with his quick smile and easy conversation. They had talked about Uther and the fact that he actually admired Gwen.

"I don't believe you," Gwen had protested. "You're just making it all up."

"I didn't think I needed to record my conversations with my father but maybe I'll start," Arthur had teased her, "on the hand, maybe I should just ask him to send us a recording."

"You don't mean that," Gwen laughed.

"I wouldn't put past him," Arthur had replied, "but yes I'm just joking."

As she thought these and other things that they had talked about, Gwen unconsciously stepped a little closer into Arthur's embrace. He noticed this, and held her a little tighter to him, feeling her body relax against his. It felt so right, holding her like this. He wished the music would never end.

000

Morgana put down the shovel and looked around the garden. She was very pleased with her work.

"Are you sure the client won't mind?" she asked Gwaine again. He had given her a lot of leeway; all her ideas were acceptable and had been incorporated not only into the gardens but also in the house as well.

"Nope," Gwaine replied, "he'll love it."

"Who is this client anyway?" Morgana pressed.

"It's uh…" Gwaine looked at her and decided to tell her the truth. "It's actually …ours."

"Ours?" Morgana stared at him. "What do you mean ours?"

"As in yours and mine," Gwaine replied, "Morgana's and Gwaine's home."

"You bought us a house without telling me?"

"I actually bought it before we got together," Gwaine said.

"So you bought us a house before we were together?"

"It's not like that," Gwaine said, "I bought the house and then later changed the deed so it belongs to us now."

"Really?"

Yes," he sighed, "it was supposed to be a surprise."

"That I was working on my house without knowing it?"

"I was going to tell you, I promise," he said, "but after the blunder the other time I decided to wait for a good time."

"What blunder could that be?" Morgana asked him, "could it be the time you said 'let's get married' when you actually meant let's go?"

"To be fair I did actually mean to ask you to marry me," Gwaine confessed, "but I didn't want to freak you out, didn't want to move too fast."

"And informing me that you bought us a house a long time ago isn't freaking me out, I suppose?" Morgana looked down to hide her smile from him.

"I promise I had the whole thing planned out," he said.

"Yes."

"Yes," he agreed, "I did, I had this whole plan like you wouldn't believe."

"Yes," Morgana said again.

"Yes," he nodded. "There was going to be music and dancing and all the things you love."

Morgana was just staring at him and he played back what she had said. "Did you just say yes?"

"Honestly if I did love you so much I'd be tempted to walk away right now," she said, "for a smart man you can be surprisingly dense at times."

"I didn't get to actually ask the question," he defended himself.

"Keep it up," Morgana replied, "I just might change my mind."

"I bought us a house," he reminded her, "and you've put a lot of work into it."

"I have great lawyers," she said, "the deed could easily be made in my name only."

Gwaine threw back his head and laughed. He really loved this woman. "Morgana, let's get married. Will you marry me?"

"How many yeses do you require?"

"One will suffice for now," he pulled her to him, "what say you?"

"Yes."

000

"Marry me," Arthur said.

Gwen looked up at him and nodded.

"Tomorrow?" he added hopefully.

"No," Gwen told him.

"Okay, the day after?"

"Do you think Uther will be happy with a ceremony at the Justice of the Peace?" Gwen asked him.

"Who cares what my father wants?"

"I don't really," Gwen told him, "but I've always wanted to get married in a church."

Arthur wisely didn't bring up Lance and the whole country club wedding. He knew that Lance hadn't cared enough about Gwen's wishes.

"Can it happen in a week?"

"I suppose," Gwen teased him, "but I need to look up all my nonexistent cousins so I can have my twelve bridesmaids."

"Okay, I'll find so more groomsmen."

"Great," she tiptoed and kissed him.

000

"I did it," Felicity hung up the phone and turned to Tom.

"Of course you did."

"Now I just need to engineer the meeting between Elyan and Elena Ward." Elyan had carefully dodged her for the past few months; she knew that he suspected that she trying to set him up but her name was Felicity Devine-Smith for nothing she would succeed in the end.

"I would have thought you'd be more taken up with the actual wedding plans; you have two weddings to plan."

"That's a piece of cake," Felicity waved her hand; "I began on the wedding plans for Gwen and Morgana months ago. Getting two people you know are right for each other to meet and know that they are right for each other is the actual work."

"I'll take your word for it."

Felicity wasn't listening anymore she was working on her plans; tomorrow she would set the wheels into motion.

***end***

000

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